Did you know that dry mouth is more than an inconvenience? Chronic dry mouth can actually lead to a deterioration of your oral and overall general health. It is important to recognize the symptoms of dry mouth early and to take measures to correct the problem quickly. Allowing dry mouth to continue unchecked can lead to dental problems as well as issues with your overall health.
There are several different reasons that you might have dry mouth. Most commonly, dry mouth is caused by excessive smoking, alcohol use, or some prescription or over the counter medications. The treatment that is appropriate for your dry mouth will depend on what is causing the dry mouth in the first place.
If you have chronic dry mouth due to a habit, such as smoking or drinking alcohol, you may not want to stop the habit. You may run into a similar situation with medications that cause dry mouth, where your doctor doesn’t want you to go off of the medication. In these types of situations, you have to treat the symptom knowing that the cause will not be going away.
For this purpose, there are some specific therapeutic mouthwashes that have been developed which will stop dry mouth in its tracks. These specialized formulas used to be available by prescription only, but you can now get them over the counter as well, and they are not overly expensive. If you want to cure your dry mouth, these mouthwashes will be well worth the cost.
If you have dry mouth caused by a medical condition or autoimmune disorder, treating the condition may resolve the dry mouth. If it doesn’t and there is no other treatment available, using the specialized mouthwashes mentioned above will help.
If you want to make sure that having chronic dry mouth has not caused any dental harm, contact us today to schedule an exam and x-ray.
