Xerostomia is something that very few people should have to experience. It can make you feel like you can’t properly chew or swallow your food, might be the make or break of your date night, and even could be showing you that something wrong is going on with your body.
But as we’ll see in the following paragraphs, Xerostomia isn’t something that we should be afraid to fight back against. As we shall see, it is very easy to figure out how to get rid of Xerostomia. With simple solutions, home remedies, and several products we recommend, by the end of this article, our hope is that you’ll be able to find ways to no longer have Xerostomia.
What is Xerostomia?
Xerostomia is really just a big word term that means you’ve got something called dry mouth. Dry mouth is, essentially, a dry mouth. Typically, what happens during time when people have dry mouth is that for some reason, known or unknown, there is a restriction on the flow of your saliva.
When this happens, your mouth doesn’t have anything to help moisten it’s mouth out with, and thus naturally becomes more dry. Your saliva, or lack of it, it usually the main cause of Xerostomia.
What exactly does your saliva help you out with? There are many different answers to that question, but two main points that we’ll touch one.
Flushing out bad bacteria
Saliva is your body’s natural defense against any type of fungi or bad bacteria that is inside your mouth. Bad bacteria, especially ones that produce sulfuric compounds that can cause bad breath, are ones that enjoy dry environments. So when there is a lack of saliva, and you’re dealing with dry mouth, you have a higher chance of having bad breath because of it.
The flow of saliva helps to take care of this problem, since it can help keep the mouth moist, and also help flush out any bad pathogens that might be hiding in your oral cavity. Your saliva can also have other properties in it to help break down those bad bacteria and clear up any foul odors coming from your mouth.
Helping get your food ready for digestion
When you eat something, you body naturally tries to produce more saliva to help mix it with your food, so that it is easier for the digestion process. That is why many times, when you are dealing with Xerostomia, your food may seem to be more dry and harder to swallow, because of the lack of saliva.
The saliva helps your teeth be able to grind your food down into more of a paste that your stomach wants when trying to break down food. The better your mouth chews the food down into something else chunky, the better and faster your body can digest that food.
What Causes Dry Mouth?
Sometimes, dry mouth can occur, and there is no known cause for why it’s happening. But the majority of the time, you should be able to find out why you are getting Xerostomia. Often-times, knowing why you get dry mouth may just help you find ways to cure your mouth from becoming dry.
Medications
Medications are usually #1 as to why people get dry mouth. You might be on meds for depression, anxiety, allergies, or even low blood pressure. All of those, and many others, can cause dry mouth to occur, due to side effects of the drugs your taking.
Smoking
While smoking doesn’t completely cause dry mouth, it does contribute to the problem. As you breathe in the smoke for your cigar/cigarette, your mouth will naturally start drying out because of it. The more you smoke, and the longer you keep lighting up, the more often you’ll keep having the symptoms of Xerostomia.
Alcohol
Believe or not, but alcohol is used to help dry things out. And your mouth is no different. When you take in a lot of alcohol, or even just a little, your mouth will naturally want to start drying out because of the alcohol consumption. That’s why when looking for a mouthwash to use, it is best to use one that doesn’t have alcohol in it.
Dehydration
If you body is dehydrated, obviously, you’ll have a harder chance to produce saliva, due to your body having a lack of water. Of course, simply drinking more fluids should help alleviate the problem, and help bring about less of a dry mouth.
Nerve Damage
When nerve damage occurs, especially around the mouth area, your body tends to not be able to produce as much saliva as it usually does. If you’ve had some sort of nerve damage, then there is a high likelihood that you will have a saliva gland dysfunction.
Age
As people start to age, and get older, their bodies start not lose certain functionalities. And it is the same with saliva production. Older people can have dry mouth due to the production of their saliva not being as much as normal.
Stress
Stress can do strange things to your body. It can make you lose your hair, make you look older, and, well, keep your body from functioning as it should. Sometimes, if you are under a lot of stress, worry, and anxiety, you will produce less saliva, and get a dry mouth.
Infections and Diseases
Certain infections and diseases can bring about dry mouth. Below are just a few of them:
- Hypertension
- Stroke
- Mumps
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Diabetes
- HIV/AIDS
Can Xerostomia Be Cured?
We could talk all about all the causes of dry mouth, but if we just left it at that, we really wouldn’t have helped any of you in getting rid of it. But take heart! You can be cured of your Xerostomia by following a few simple, yet effective tips. We have compiled a list of those cures in this article here, where we give hope and courage to those suffering from a dry mouth.