If it seems as though your mouth never feels moist enough, you may suffer from chronic dry mouth, or xerostomia. Along with ensuring that you drink enough water during the day to stay hydrated, use the following tips to help keep your mouth moistened to help relieve any discomfort the dryness causes you.

1.  Keep a Supply of Sugarless Candies or Gum on Hand

No matter what the cause of your chronic dry mouth, your salivary glands are not able to naturally produce enough saliva to keep your mouth moist. If you go without eating for long periods of time, the glands will not be stimulated, which can compound the problem and keep your mouth drier.

To combat this scenario, keep a supply of hard candies or gum on hand that you can either chew or suck on during the day between meals. However, make sure you choose sugarfree varieties. If you use sugary candies or gum, the residual sugar could increase your risk of cavities and tooth decay. Also, sugar tends to have a drying effect, which could worsen your dry mouth symptoms.

2.  Run a Humidifier While You Are Sleeping

In between meals is not the only time that your mouth tends to become extremely dry. At night while you are sleeping, the air you breathe can become drier, especially if you sleep with the heat on or with a fan blowing on you. Also, since you have no control over how you breathe while you are sleeping, you may suck air in through your mouth instead of your nose. This constant flow of air dries out any moisture that is present in your mouth, causing you to wake up with cotton mouth and a sticky throat.

To help alleviate the excess dryness caused while you are sleeping that can exacerbate your dry mouth symptoms, run a humidifier in your bedroom. The fine mist the humidifier creates helps to moisten the air, which in turn can help keep your mouth wet while you are asleep.

Even if you use the above tips to help with your dry mouth symptoms, you still want to have your mouth checked out to find the underlying cause, as well as make sure you do not develop gum disease or tooth decay. Make an appointment with a dentist who can examine your mouth, as well as discuss any treatment options for your chronic dry mouth.

For more information, contact a dental office like Snodgrass King today.