Dry Mouth Symptoms

Majority of the population do not monitor the amount of saliva produced by salivary glands into the mouth thinking that saliva is just an ordinary moist inside one’s mouth. Saliva actually aids in food digestion, speech, taste and over all oral health. Hence, it is important to consider the amount of saliva present in your mouth or its absence thereof.

Lack of saliva is medically termed as Xerostomia from the Greek words "xero" meaning dry and "stoma" which means mouth. Besides the fact that dry mouth is the leading cause of bad breath (more information can be obtained from the free e-book Bad Breath Bible, written by Dr. Harold Katz), it may also be a manifestation of more underlying diseases like Sjögren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune condition which is characterized by oral dryness and dryness of the eyes. Although oral dryness’ symptoms are extensive and largely not life-threatening, its persistence seizes the enjoyment out of your life. It affects how we breathe, what we eat, how we smell and generally how we feel about ourselves.

Therefore, you should always be on guard for the following oral symptoms and clinical signs: a gluey and foamy form of saliva, dry feeling in the mouth and the throat, persistent need for liquids, blister or split skin at the corners of the mouth, chapped lips, stinging and burning feeling in the mouth especially on the tongue, difficulty speaking, tasting, chewing and swallowing, persistent denture problems, sore throat, dry nasal passages and as mentioned above, bad breath. However, you must take note that since the above mentioned symptoms are so common, often times it takes months or even longer period of time before a definitive finding is made.

Other than the symptoms listed above, dry mouth may also contribute to numerous oral problems like gingivitis, tooth decay, thrush and other mouth infections.


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