How Do I Get Dry Mouth Relief?

The word dry mouth was first described abroad in 1868 as "dry mouth". Hutchinson first used the term Xerostomia in 1889 and is still in use today. Domestic translation is "dry mouth (disease)". Xerostomia is a subjective feeling, and the causes are different. Many are comorbidities of many diseases throughout the body, and some are the result of inevitable development. Drug side effects are also one of the important factors leading to dry mouth. Xerostomia is a symptom caused by a lack of saliva in the mouth. The amount of saliva depends on the balance between its production and consumption. If the amount of saliva produced is lower than the amount consumed, a negative balance appears and it appears as dry mouth.

Xerostomia

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The word dry mouth was first described abroad in 1868 as "dry mouth". Hutchinson first used the term Xerostomia in 1889 and is still in use today. Domestic translation is "dry mouth (disease)". Xerostomia is a subjective feeling, and the causes are different. Many are comorbidities of many diseases throughout the body, and some are the result of inevitable development. Drug side effects are also one of the important factors leading to dry mouth. Xerostomia is a symptom caused by a lack of saliva in the mouth. The amount of saliva depends on the balance between its production and consumption. If the amount of saliva produced is lower than the amount consumed, a negative balance appears and it appears as dry mouth.

Chinese name

Xerostomia

Foreign name

Xerostomia

Symptom

Lack of saliva in the mouth, manifested as dry mouth

Medication

Rehydration

Saliva deficiency has a significant effect on various organs in the mouth. Candida albicans infection is extremely easy when the mouth is dry. Due to inflammation, the oral mucosa becomes dry and red, and the surface is covered with a strong adhesive mucus membrane, which is difficult to peel off. The tongue is red and congested, the epithelium is atrophied, and the surface is dry and cracked. The saliva pool at the bottom of the mouth disappeared. The patient complained of burning tongue and abnormal taste. Lips are chapped and the surface is covered with crusts. Dry mouth causes caries or periodontal disease, and teeth are often missing. Due to damage to the oral mucosa and teeth, patients often have difficulty chewing and swallowing, and may have speech impairments.

Although xerostomia is a subjective sensation, severe cases often have symptoms such as burning of the oral mucosa, difficulty in swallowing dry food, and decreased taste function, but the common mucosa is smooth, loses normal gloss, tongue atrophy, and sulcus cracks are common. When the glands are pressed, the saliva is excreted very little, even without saliva.

Treatment for the cause of xerostomia is the most effective method. Some metabolic disorders, such as dehydration, can restore saliva secretion to normal by rehydration. Although antipsychotic and antihypertensive drugs cannot be used, dry mouth can also be reduced by adjusting the drug and its dosage. Open mouth breathing causes increased saliva consumption and dry mouths, which can be alleviated by correcting bad habits or eliminating other causes of open mouth breathing.

However, if the dry mouth is caused by a temporary or permanent parenchymal loss, it can only be treated symptomatically, including the following aspects:

1. Strengthen oral hygiene to prevent dental caries and periodontal and mucosal diseases. Patients are advised to rinse their mouths often, and they need to brush their teeth before and after bedtime. Patients receiving radiation treatment not only have dry mouth, but also the mineralization of tooth tissue is affected. The application of remineralization fluid can help prevent or reduce the occurrence of dental caries.

2. Application of artificial saliva Artificial saliva has many prescriptions. Most of the liquids used in the past contained glycerol. Now it mostly imitates the components of natural saliva and appropriately increases its viscosity. The author has used -glucan mouthwash to treat 50 patients with Sjogren's syndrome and dry mouth after radiotherapy. The effect is twofold: it increases physical lubrication and slightly stimulates saliva secretion. Relieves symptoms of dry mouth, but its effect is short-lived.

3. Stimulation of residual glandular parenchyma In the past, pilocarpine was commonly used. Now Shuyale is used more often. The general dose is 3 times / d, one tablet (25mg) each time, taken before meals. It can be taken continuously or intermittently for 5 days every month, and can be taken at the same time as the drug that causes dry mouth. Such drugs can cause secretion of other organs, such as the gallbladder, with corresponding side effects. Therefore, it is contraindicated for those with biliary tract and common bile duct occlusion.

Many patients, especially the elderly, have a complaint of dry mouth, but there is no objective evidence of dry mouth. There are two reasons for this: one is a slight decrease in saliva, and the other is the decrease in the threshold of dry mouth sensitivity. In this regard, light saliva treatments can be used, such as chewing sugarless gum to stimulate saliva secretion.

Chinese medicine classifies xerostomia as "dryness". The root cause of dryness caused by yin deficiency is ruled by nourishing yin and promoting hydration, moistening spleen and strengthening spleen. The main Chinese medicines used are Yuanshen, Shengdi, Ophiopogon, Bupleurum, Pinellia, Licorice and so on.

Wet oral cavity often uses artificial saliva, and its composition is shown in Table 1. Can be sprayed or applied to the oral mucosa, once every 3 to 4 hours. Saliva drugs such as Shuyale produced abroad can also be tried, 1 to 3 times / d, 1 tablet each time (containing anthracene trisulfide 25mg). This medicine has a certain effect on people with low salivary function or glandular damage caused by other drugs.

It should be light, eat more fruits and vegetables, match the diet reasonably, pay attention to sufficient nutrition, and follow the doctor's advice.

There are no effective preventive measures for this disease. Pay attention to the details of life. Early detection and early diagnosis are the key to the prevention and treatment of this disease.

Physiological factors such as talking too much, hot weather, insufficient fluid intake, etc. can cause dry mouth. However, these conditions can be corrected once sufficient water is taken. Upper respiratory diseases, especially nasal diseases such as nasal polyps, severe nasal septum deflections, various nasal cavity or paranasal sinusitis, etc. can cause patients to breathe and cause dry mouth. Removing these factors can significantly improve symptoms.

Sjogren's syndrome and head and neck cancers involving the salivary glands. Radiotherapy often causes xerostomia. Dry mouth in diabetics is one of the three main symptoms (eating, drinking, and urination). Diabetic patients may have early signs of dry mouth before other symptoms do not appear. The blood glucose check at this stage may be within the normal range, but the glucose tolerance curve is significantly abnormal.

Aging changes are often an important factor in xerostomia. In addition to dry mouth, the elderly often feel difficult to chew and swallow. If full dentures are easy to fall off, their retention is not good. Menopausal women's main complaints about dry mouth are also very common. The presence of Sjogren's syndrome and other conditions must be ruled out.

Xerostomia caused by drug side effects is common but often overlooked. There are hundreds of drugs that cause side effects of dry mouth, mainly anticholinergic parasympathetic drugs such as atropine, pilocarpine, etc., and antispasmodics that reduce gastric acid secretion, such as brompromil Clonidine for hypertension, antihistamines and sedatives and sleeping pills that inhibit the central nervous system. The severity of mouth dryness caused by drugs involves the type and duration of medication. Elderly people or people with multiple diseases take multiple drugs, it is difficult to confirm which one is caused. If xerostomia caused by the drug can identify certain types of drugs, salivary gland function can be restored soon after stopping.

Should be distinguished from diseases such as vitamin deficiency and anemia.

Laboratory inspection:

Xerostomia can be used to measure the amount of saliva. One is to directly measure the total saliva volume, and the method is simple. The non-stimulated resting secretion is 0.3 0.4ml / min. After chewing paraffin or 2% citric acid, the average secretion was 1 2ml / min. Lashley suction cups can also be used to attach to the parotid duct. Parotid saliva was collected, and in a non-stimulating resting state, unilateral glands were 0.04 ml / min. After stimulation with 2% citric acid, it can reach 0.7ml / min. Below this value, the salivary gland function is considered to be low.

Other auxiliary checks:

Functional methods of salivary gland radiography and 99mTc imaging can evaluate the secretory function of salivary glands, so as to judge objectively whether xerostomia exists.

Dry mouth causes caries or periodontal disease, and teeth are often missing. Due to damage to the oral mucosa and teeth, patients often have difficulty chewing and swallowing, and may have speech impairments.