Dry mouth treatment
Identifying the cause of a dry mouth is the first step in a laborious process. There are many factors that influence or directly cause a dry mouth.
- Dietary habits, smoking, lifestyle.
- Nasal breathing problems.
- The diseases the patient has and the drugs they require to treat them.
- History of treatment with radiotherapy for head and neck tumours or with radioactive iodine for thyroid pathology.
- Sjögren’s Syndrome and other specific diseases of the salivary glands.
HOW WE TREAT DRY MOUTH
In those cases where dry mouth is due to a single cause it will be easy to find the appropriate treatment.
- Medication to improve nasal breathing or surgery on a deviated septum will improve nasal ventilation and solve the dehydration problem.
- Modifications to regular medication in the way a drug is taken or replacement with another medication that does not include dry mouth among its side effects will solve the problem in pharmacological xerostomy.
- In cases where dry mouth is due to reduced saliva production despite the gland being in good condition, we can use drugs to stimulate the salivary glands.
- Structural alterations of the excretory duct system, as well as chronic alterations of the glandular tissue, benefit nowadays from intraductal treatment by sialoendoscopy.
- Lastly, we should use saliva replacement therapies, with gels, mouthwashes, toothpastes, oral dissolution tablets and artificial saliva.
