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Key Takeaways

• About 25% of adults have dry mouth; women get it more (27%) compared to men (21%).
• Drink at least eight glasses of water each day to keep your mouth moist and rinse away food particles that lead to decay.
• Chew sugar-free gum with xylitol to increase saliva, but don’t chew too much, as it can upset your stomach.
• Cut down on coffee, wine, cigarettes and mouthwashes containing alcohol—they dry out your mouth further.
• Run a humidifier in your room overnight to keep the air moist while you sleep.

Stay Hydrated

Water keeps your mouth moist and helps wash away food bits that cause decay. Your body needs at least eight glasses daily to make enough saliva for good oral health.

Sip water regularly throughout the day

Your body needs water to produce saliva. Take small sips throughout the day to help prevent dry mouth. Always keep a bottle handy at work, in your car, and beside your bed. Doing this regularly keeps your mouth moist and clears food bits that cause plaque.

About 40% of people over 55 deal with dry mouth daily. The condition often worsens at night because saliva production slows during sleep.

Plain water is best for healthy teeth and gums. Drinks with caffeine or alcohol can make a dry mouth worse, so avoid them. Chewing sugar-free gum between drinking water helps increase saliva flow.

People dealing with xerostomia should drink at least eight glasses of water every day. Your teeth and gums will benefit greatly from this easy habit.

Stimulate Saliva Production

Chewing sugar-free gum with xylitol helps your mouth make more saliva, which fights tooth decay and bad breath. Read on to learn more ways to keep your mouth moist and healthy.

Chew sugar-free gum or suck on sugar-free hard candies

Sugar-free gum helps your mouth produce extra saliva. Your mouth glands become active as you chew, reducing dryness and bad breath. Many sugar-free gums contain xylitol, which helps prevent tooth decay and cavities.

Too much xylitol can lead to stomach cramps or diarrhoea, so avoid chewing excessive amounts.

Sugar-free hard candies also encourage saliva in your mouth. Women often need extra help with dry mouth more than men. Around 27% of women suffer from ongoing dry mouth, compared to 21% of men.

Some brands, like Biotene, offer special products to treat dry mouth. These products support good oral care and reduce gum issues before they occur.

Avoid Drying Agents

Some drinks and habits can make your dry mouth worse. Coffee, wine, and cigarettes pull water from your body and reduce the saliva your mouth needs to stay healthy.

Limit caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol consumption

Coffee, wine, and cigarettes can dry out your mouth. They shrink your saliva glands and make dryness worse. Limit coffee and wine, and give up cigarettes to keep your mouth moist. Dry mouth can cause bad breath, and that often leads to feeling nervous in social settings.

Drink water or tea with low caffeine instead. Saliva helps wash food bits away to stop gum disease. Cigarettes dry out your mouth and increase your risk of oral cancer. Mouth rinses with alcohol can also cause dryness.

For relief, choose rinses without alcohol made to help dry mouths.

Optimise Oral Hygiene

Good oral care helps fight dry mouth problems. Brush with special toothpaste and clean between teeth daily to keep your mouth healthy.

Brush with fluoridated toothpaste and floss daily

Brush your teeth two times each day with fluoride toothpaste to help with dry mouth. Doing this can protect teeth from decay and keeps your mouth fresh. Use dental floss daily to clean between teeth where brushes can’t reach.

Plaque quickly builds in these areas and can harm your gums. Speak with your dentist about prescription fluoride toothpaste for extra help.

Choose the right tools for daily oral care. A toothbrush with soft bristles gently cleans teeth without harming gums. Water flossers are useful if regular flossing is tricky for you.

People who have missing teeth or implants should take extra care with their mouths. Dry mouth raises the chance of tooth decay and gum problems, which makes regular brushing and flossing even more important.

Stay away from products containing sodium lauryl sulphate, as they can worsen symptoms of dry mouth.

Use Humidifiers

Dry air in your home can worsen dry mouth, so place a humidifier in your bedroom to add moisture while you sleep. Read on to learn more about how this simple device can help protect your teeth and gums from the effects of reduced saliva.

Add moisture to the air, especially at night

Sleeping in dry conditions can worsen your mouth problems at night. Using a humidifier adds moisture to your bedroom air while you sleep. This extra moisture stops your mouth drying out.

Dr Nigel Carter OBE notes dry mouth can affect your speech and eating. It can also lower your confidence.

Plenty of people place a small humidifier on their bedside table. Fill it each night with plain water before sleeping. More moisture in the air helps people with Sjögren’s syndrome, a condition often causing very dry mouths.

Your salivary glands need moisture to protect against tooth decay and bad breath. Healthy moisture levels also stop mouth sores forming, which can harm oral health.

Explore Dry Mouth Products

Many chemists stock special dry mouth products that can ease your discomfort. You can try saliva substitutes, oral rinses, or sugarless gum to help keep your mouth moist.

Consider saliva substitutes and specialised mouthwashes

Saliva substitutes can ease dry mouth problems. These products are sprays, gels or rinses that keep your mouth moist. T. Nederfors found in 1996 that sprays offer quick, short-term relief.

Special mouthwashes for dry mouth do not contain alcohol, so they won’t dry your mouth further. Nathan’s 2023 study showed these products helped cancer patients with sicca symptoms following treatment.

Some artificial saliva products now contain fluoride to protect teeth from decay and cavities. Sugar-free saliva substitutes give comfort and safeguard your teeth. Dentists may recommend saliva stimulants if you suffer from ongoing dry mouth caused by Sjögren’s syndrome.

Using saliva substitutes along with regular dental care helps prevent plaque build-up. People who treat their dry mouth properly tend to experience fewer mouth infections and tooth loss than those who do not.

Dry mouth can cause tooth and gum problems if you ignore it. If you need help with dry mouth or bad breath, you can book an appointment with us here.