Your saliva plays an important role in lubricating your mouth to help facilitate swallowing. After you’re done eating, further saliva production serves to wash away residual food particles and plaque to reduce the buildup of plaque acids in your mouth.
The chronic condition of dry mouth, which is also known as xerostomia, can impede healthy saliva production. It can be caused by several different things. Identifying the contributing factors can help resolve the problem or develop an effective remediation technique.
Certain prescription medications, frequent alcohol consumption, and tobacco use can cause a state of chronic dehydration in the mouth. These lifestyle factors can be addressed by abstaining from alcohol, and tobacco, or seeing if your physician can provide you with an alternate medication.
You also shouldn’t ignore dry mouth as a potential symptom of an oral or pharyngeal cancer can also cause a reduction in saliva production. Diagnosing these conditions early can significantly increase your treatment options, and treatment success rate.
Early warning signs often include a persistent pain in your mouth, swelling, or a lump in your cheek. Pharyngeal cancer symptoms could also include a persistent sore throat, or a feeling like something is stuck in the back of your mouth.
If you continue to struggle to identify the cause of your dry mouth problems you should call 505-662-3163 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Rachel Meyer and the staff at Dr. Rachel Meyer, DDS’s Los Alamos, New Mexico, dental offices.