This condition occurs when your salivary glands don’t produce enough saliva. It is also called xerostomia or hyposalivation.

From the name itself, this condition causes a parched, and dry feeling in your mouth. Saliva is a significant part of the digestion process because it helps moisten and break down food.

This is actually not a diagnosed condition, but it is sometimes a symptom of another condition. Bad breath, dry throat, and cracked lips are symptoms of a dry mouth.

If there is no presence of saliva, the mouth gets dry and can feel uncomfortable. This is because saliva can cleanse your mouth, digest food, and prevent infection from bacteria and fungi.

This is actually a normal thing to experience. When you feel your mouth and lips very dry, that’s called a dry mouth.

Whenever you wake up in the morning, you might have possibly experienced this. Note that a dry mouth isn’t usually alarming and might just be a side effect or symptom.

Treatments for dry mouth can usually be done at home, but if symptoms persist and worsen, then it’s time to schedule with your doctor.

A dry mouth can look very unpleasant because of chapped lips and sometimes bad breath. It is not a good look if you’re going out. That’s why this condition has several remedies and ways to avoid and treat it.

There are several causes for dry mouth, these include:

* Medication - The side effects from certain medications can cause dry mouth. These medications include the use of antidepressants, antihistamines, and appetite suppressants.

* Disease/Infection - Dry mouth can be. side effects of more serious conditions such as HIV, AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, Diabetes, Anemia, Cystic fibrosis, Hypertension, Stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and others.

* Dehydration - This is one of the most common causes of dry mouth. Not having enough fluids in the body affects your body and makes it dehydrated without any moisture. Therefore, dry mouth happens.

* Smoking Tobacco - This affects the mouth especially because that’s what you use to smoke. Tobacco makes the mouth dark and dry.

* Stress And Anxiety - Experiencing both can lead to a dry mouth because this affects one’s lifestyle badly. Because of getting stressed and anxious, you tend to forget how to take care of yourself.

* Marijuana - This is one of the symptoms of smoking marijuana, called the “cotton mouth.”

* Breathing Through Mouth - This obviously causes the mouth to get dry because you’re letting air pass through as if you’re drying your mouth.

* Medical Treatments - This can happen because of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. These treatments can damage the salivary glands and makes it dry.

If you still don’t know how a dry mouth happens, here are several symptoms:

* Feeling thirst very frequently

* Mouth sores and cracks occur from time to time if dry mouth is prolonged.

* Dry throat is associated with dry mouth

* Burning sensation in the mouth and tongue causes them to be sensitive to touch.

* Bad breath can happen when you have a dry mouth.

* Sore throat happens often because of the dryness of your mouth and throat it can be easily scratched.

* Dry and red tongue happens because of the burning sensation on the tongue.

A dry mouth can be treated with natural remedies and lifestyle changes.

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1. Improve Oral Hygiene

A dry mouth may be both a symptom and a cause of poor oral hygiene. Improving oral routines is very significant to protecting the health of your mouth.

This includes frequent flossing, fluoride toothpaste, and mouthwash use. A proper oral routine can lead to a better oral condition and avoid more problems.

2. Humidifier

Humidifying can actually help prove a dry mouth.

Through using a humidifier for your room, you simply add moisture in the air.

Running a humidifier at night may reduce discomfort and improve sleep.

From having moisture in the air, the skin can absorb it.

3. Alcohol-Free Mouthwash

Mouthwash is a great product for maintaining good oral hygiene. But not all mouthwashes are effective.

Some that contain alcohol can cause the mouth and lips to dry out. More specifically, mouthwashes containing xylitol helps promote saliva production.

4. Stay Hydrated

Drinking enough water gives you a great advantage in preventing a dry mouth from happening.

It simply hydrates the body which will eventually produce moisture throughout the body. This is actually the most important factor in getting a healthy body.

5. Avoid Caffeine

Caffeinated beverages are known to cause dehydration. By avoiding caffeinated drinks, you can also avoid a dry mouth. This can also lead to a case of coffee breath and bad breath.

6. Limit Alcohol Use

Alcohol has already been known to cause dehydration by making you pee and release all fluids in your body.

Alcohol can worsen symptoms of dry mouth because of dehydration. Try drinking water when you have a dry mouth.

7. Stop Smoking

Smoking less cigarettes can alleviate dry mouth symptoms. Smoking can slow down saliva production. This can lead to darker lips, sores, yellowish teeth, and bad breath.

8. Aloe Vera

This plant has already been proven to moisturize and treat burnt skin. The gel inside the aloe vera plant can help moisturize your lips.

9. Ginger

This crop can actually stimulate saliva production that is beneficial for avoiding dry mouth.

10. Marshmallow Root

This root is used as natural remedies for treating various conditions.

One of them is dry mouth because it is a moisturizing plant just like the aloe vera.

Marshmallow root is an emollient and moisturizing plant like aloe.

11. Reducing Sugar Intake

Sugar is a factor for drying the mouth. So by sucking on sugar free lozenges, candy, and gum it may help prevent you from getting a dry mouth.

This can temporarily relieve dryness because of the saliva produced by sucking on candies.

Even though it may not seem like a big deal, chronic dry mouth can cause more oral problems. Such as sores and infections in the mouth.

Use water, mints and mouthwash to cope now, and then talk to your doctor about possible causes and treatment. Prevention is better than treatment so remember to take care of your oral hygiene.