How to Fix and Prevent Dry Mouth (Podcast)

John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher and I’m here today with Dr. Nammy Patel, founder of Green Dentistry in San Francisco, California, helping patients recognize the vital connection between dental health and whole body health, and author of the bestselling books, Age with Style: Guide to a Youthful Smile and Healthy Living, and Total Wellness: Understanding the Link Between Your Teeth and Your Health.

Today our topic is how to fix and prevent dry mouth. Welcome, Dr. Nammy.

Dr. Nammy Patel: Hi, John. Thank you for having me.

What Is Dry Mouth?

John: Sure. Dr. Nammy, what is dry mouth and why is that a problem for your oral and your overall health?

Dr. Nammy: Well, dry mouth is when your mouth is dry. So a lot of times that dryness that’s occurring is because your mouth is dehydrated. And as we know, dehydration for our body is not the best thing that the body wants. We’re 90% water, so we really need to stay hydrated at all times.

Now, when it comes specifically to the mouth, dehydration is a real big concern because it creates a brewing ground for bacteria to grow that we do not want, and especially bacteria that are resistant to cleanings, bacteria that really cause havoc in our systems, they’re known to cause heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, what have you, so it’s really important that we create this environment that is moist. We want the opposite of dry.

Causes of Dry Mouth

John: And so what are some causes of dry mouth?

Dr. Nammy: The majority of the causes of dry mouth, number one is speaking a lot. So, see how we’re doing podcasting today and we’re speaking, my mouth is open, I’m mouth breathing quite a bit, so that’s one of the biggest and the most common causes. Pretty much everyone has it, because all of us are speaking, right? So there’s definitely a lot of dry mouth that comes from speaking, number one, not getting enough water.

And then the second is at night when you’re sleeping, again, it’s really making sure that your mouth stays closed. A lot of times, 80% of Americans tend to snore, so that’s mouth breathing. So, super important to mouth tape and close that mouth.

Now, medications also cause dry mouth as well. There are certain anti-anxiety medications that will cause dry mouth. There’s a lot of high blood pressure medications that will cause dry mouth. So it’s really important to see which medications are going to cause dry mouth and to mitigate that problem.

Now, the other reason people get dry mouth is because of age. So every stage of our life, things change. So when we turn around 60, what happens is the salivary glands just get a little fatigued and they don’t produce as much saliva like they used to. So that is another major reason that I see a lot of dry mouth.

John: Can dry mouth be caused by stress as well? I know if I have to give a public presentation or something like that, you’re always like, oh, I need a drink of water. Does stress play a role as well?

Dr. Nammy: Absolutely, because when we’re stressed out, we’re sweaty. We’re getting our bodies dehydrated. So, definitely. And anytime there is this heavy breathing that occurs because we’re stressed out and that is going to create that perfect brewing round for bacteria to grow, and it’s caused from dry mouth.

Dental Treatments for Dry Mouth

John: So can a dentist help to treat your dry mouth?

Dr. Nammy: Absolutely. A dentist can help you identify the causes of dry mouth and help address where that’s coming from. For example, the person like you and I who are speaking all day, it’s really important that we make sure that we are sipping a lot of water. We can even take oral probiotic lozenges that we use in our mouths and that can help rehydrate the mouth. Also make sure that good bacteria are inside our mouth. So those are the easiest things that we can do.

Now at night, if you are mouth breathing, you can mouth tape. That is one thing that is available that is really easy to utilize and that’s a great way to help you prevent dry mouth. Now, if you have dry mouth coming from medications or because you’re older, there’s substitute saliva. There’s actually substitute saliva mouth washes that can be utilized in order to help with dry mouth. The most common one is actually StellaLife that I really like. It’s an all natural one and it’s a really wonderful, because it has coconut oil on it and it’s a really nice blend of a lot of herbs and helps rehydrate that mouth.

So a dentist is going to help you identify which product you’re going to utilize, because you’re going to need to do it on a daily basis. We’re talking on a daily basis. The dentist is not with you when you’re talking all day. When you’re sleeping at night, the dentist is not with you, but they’re going to prescribe certain things that you need to do in order to sustain or actually maintain that dry mouth so it doesn’t get any worse.

Home Remedies for Dry Mouth

John: So that special mouthwash that you mentioned is one option. Are there other options that people can do at home to help with their dry mouth?

Dr. Nammy: Absolutely. So my favorite is actually coconut oil or sesame oil, rubbing that on the gums. And especially for my mouth breathers or my sleep apnea patients, I would say just take some coconut oil and there is oil pulling. Sure, you can do oil pulling, where you sit and swish around the coconut oil for about 20 minutes. A lot of times, patients don’t really want to do that. So even if you just take some coconut oil, olive oil, sesame oil, any sort of oil, take that, rub it around your gums and keep that mouth hydrated and then you can go to sleep. So that oil really helps keep the mouth hydrated at all times, especially while you’re sleeping. So that is a really great thing to be able to utilize.

You can also chew gum. Gum is great because it’s going to stimulate your salivary gland to produce more saliva, and that is a wonderful thing to be able to utilize. Sometimes there’s little salivary gland activators that you can put, these little stickers almost that go inside your mouth and they can stay there and help stimulate saliva over a period of time.

And sometimes patients have something called Sjogren’s syndrome, which is a dry mouth syndrome. And it happens, it’s unknown why, but it affects women more than men, and it just is something where there’s just not as much saliva. So we’ve got to stimulate those glands to be able to create more saliva. So that’s a really wonderful thing to be able to utilize as well.

Contact Green Dentistry for Help With Dry Mouth

John: All right. Well that’s great advice, Dr. Nammy. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Dr. Nammy: My pleasure.

John: And for more information about Green Dentistry, visit the website at sfgreendentist.com or call 415-433-0119.