A dry mouth happens when you don’t produce enough saliva.
This can be as a result of medication, and can be made worse by day to day food and lifestyle choices,
like alcohol, smoking and even some foods.
Saliva is important to maintain a healthy mouth.
It keeps your mouth moist which helps with things like taste and chewing, even talking.
Saliva also helps keep your mouth clean by washing your teeth and providing minerals for repair.
It also helps prevent infections and reduces the risk of tooth decay and gum disease.
But there are ways to improve the symptoms of dry mouth.
Hey Deb.
Hi, how are you?
Good.
I just thought I should check, you mentioned at breakfast you were having a little bit of trouble eating.
Can you tell me what's happening?
My mouth is so dry, and sore. It hurts when I swallow, when I'm eating.
It actually hurts when I'm trying to talk.
If I eat toast, it feels like I've just cut the inside of my mouth,
and then ulcers appear, and they just won't go away.
Okay, well what you're describing is Dry Mouth, and it basically means reduced or no saliva.
It's pretty common actually.
It's caused by medications and some illnesses and things like smoking, alcohol, some foods
and mouth washes even can make it worse.
Oh okay, well I've actually started to cut back on my smoking.
Is there anything else you suggest?
Well basically you need to keep your mouth moist,
this will help make things more comfortable when you're eating and talking.
If you can carry some tap water around with you, and sip it throughout the day,
this will help keep things more comfortable.
I don't really like water a lot, so could I maybe sip on cordial or orange juice?
Tap water is actually best.
Things like cordials, juices and other drinks like that can contain a lot of sugar,
which isn't great for our teeth, but tap water has fluoride,
which actually makes your teeth stronger.
Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense then.
You need to increase the amount of saliva in your mouth,
and this can be done a few different ways,
like chewing sugar-free gum.
But I always thought that chewing gum was bad for your teeth?
No, not if it's sugar-free, it's fine.
It actually increases the amount of saliva in your mouth,
and this makes things more comfortable.
So would that help with cracked lips?
Maybe a little, but I suggest using a lip balm,
something like an SPF lip balm is even better because it helps protect against the sun.
I've heard of this thing called fake saliva. Does that work?
Yeah, well there are a lot of products available at the pharmacy, and they work really well,
and they're inexpensive.
Things like tooth paste, mouth washes, and anti-bacteria gels.
If you ask your pharmacy team, they'll be able to give you a lot of good advice.
Okay, well I do go to my pharmacist regularly to get my medications,
so that should be no problem trying to find someone to help me there.
Now, you mentioned before about smoking.
Have you actually quit, or are you still giving up?
Yeah, I've tried to quit so many times,
but I will say that this time has been a lot more successful, because I've actually halved
the amount that I used to smoke.
It is really hard, but cutting down to half, you're doing really well.
Look, don't forget to ask for help if you need it, things like your Pharmacist will have some advice,
your local GP, or even the Quitline, they deal with this everyday.
So, do you think I need to see my dentist?
If you haven't had an appointment for a while, it's probably a good idea,
especially as you do have dry mouth,
and it does put you at a higher risk of tooth decay.
Okay, well I best make an appointment then.
It's up to you, but if you want, you can go online and find out what services are available,
whether you want to go public or private, and what's around.
That's awesome, thank you so much for your help.
You're welcome. Hey, I'll see you at lunch?
Okay.
See you.
I've always felt self-conscious about my teeth and I worried about bad breath,
and that people were staring at me.
My mouth always felt uncomfortable, which I now know was because of some medications I was taking.
I even thought people could sense my lack of confidence, which is not a good feeling.
The dryness of my mouth had made it hard to eat,
and I sometimes felt I was choking when I was swallowing,
and I was always biting the inside of my cheek,
and food tasted weird, and sometimes I couldn't even taste it at all.
I thought I was going to have to live with dry mouth forever,
and I thought that any options for relief would be really expensive.
I want to make sure I do what whatever it takes to reduce the risk of tooth decay and gum disease.
I really just want to feel better.