I Have No Saliva !?!
What Can I Do?
First...did you know that dry mouth is a MAJOR cause of cavities? It’s never a good thing.
So, it’s so great that you are here and researching this question. Keep reading, and you’ll be given all the tools needed to combat your dry mouth problem and help protect your mouth as best you can.
There are several reasons that we may experience dry mouth.
The leading causes affecting so many people are:
Prescription medications
allergies and allergy medications
c-pap machines
sleeping with the fan on in your room
radiation to the head and neck
dehydration
consistent runners and other athletes
mouth breathers in general
Many of these causes are beyond our control, and some are even necessary for our well-being.
So what do we do when we can’t change the cause?
Well, let’s break down the TWO problems that we face with dry mouth.
First is the dry FEELING itself that you’re experiencing
...and lack of taste because of it. It’s extremely irritating.
The dry feeling may be the first thing you’d like to fix here, but there’s actually a much larger problem to tackle…
There becomes an extremely high risk of getting cavities when we suffer from dry mouth.
Here is a simple breakdown of this disastrous process:
Plaque is the white, mushy, live bacteria that is present in our mouths. Plaque is responsible for causing cavities, and it is responsible for causing bleeding gums and bone disease.
To put it simply, our saliva is what helps fight the plaque bacteria off for us.
None of us are perfect at removing the plaque. Even the most diligent brushers and flossers leave some plaque behind. Our saliva then takes over as our natural defense warrior, shooting minerals into that leftover plaque.
The minerals kill it.
The plaque is, therefore, transformed into a mineralized rock of DEAD bacteria which sticks to the sides of our teeth like a “barnacle.”
This rock-like “barnacle” is called tartar.
Tartar is just dead “bugs”, stuck on your teeth like a rock. The only way to remove it is with the metal instruments that your honest dentist or dental hygienist use.
Once it’s removed, plaque is fully formed and active again in 8 minutes. Tartar can be formed again within 24 hours!
So now let’s picture this scenario, but WITHOUT the saliva there to help you.
First, how often do you TRULY floss and brush?
How much bacteria are you leaving behind to wreak havoc in your mouth?
And now….you have limited to no saliva to help kill it. Your mouth is dry…
ANY reduction in saliva becomes a risk factor for problems.
The plaque bacteria stay ALIVE and are free to cause massive cavities and extensive gum disease. It’s a recipe for disaster.
So let’s talk about how to fight against all of this…
Your mouth is dry, now what?
Fighting the decay is your most important priority.
Here are the steps that you need to take:
1. Floss and brush regularly to keep the plaque away. This is SOOO important. YOU have to do the work because your saliva can’t. It’s all up to you now.
Be sure to read the SODA that we’ve spilled for you on flossing and brushing. You should be confident that you are doing each of those two things correctly.
2. Do your best brushing and flossing at night before you go to bed. Given the small amount of saliva that you have left, to begin with, your saliva actually STOPS FLOWING as much at night when you go to sleep.
“So why do we drool so much when we sleep?” Yes, we drool, but our saliva production is still reduced. Any plaque bacteria that is left on your teeth is sure to have a destructive party in your mouth all night long, without that saliva around.
Do your best cleaning at night. DON’T SKIP!
3. After you brush and floss well before bed, RINSE with an anti-cavity mouthwash.
The fluoride in anti-cavity mouthwash coats your teeth and protects them from the acid that the bacteria produces.
ACT brand mouthwash is the SODA favorite. They make additional dry mouth products as well, which help immensely!
Be sure to browse our Product Advice’s dry mouth section for detailed guidance on those additional products.
Suppose your dry mouth is more severe, and you are finding that you are developing a lot of decay, more quickly. It may be necessary to get a PRESCRIPTION fluoride toothpaste or rinse from your honest dentist.
This prescription is most often Colgate Prevident. There is also an amazing new company called CariFree.
CariFree took it a step further by adding hydroxyapatite to their prescription toothpaste. Hydroxyapatite occurs naturally in our saliva and helps to remineralize our broken down tooth structure. With our saliva gone, this was a genius addition. This product can only be purchased through offices that carry it, however.
Use the prescription fluorides WITHOUT rinsing with water afterward-no eating or drinking anything else for the night. Just go to bed, and let it sit on your teeth all night long.
We understand that there are people who don’t believe in using fluoride. We understand your concern completely. We just want to pass along that, as far as cavities go in the dental world, especially when it comes to dry mouth, we have seen a SIGNIFICANT benefit in the TOPICAL application of fluoride on the teeth. You won’t be ingesting it, just putting it on your teeth and spitting it out.
Sometimes weighing the pros and cons is worth fluoride’s consideration. Cavities are no fun and can get expensive.
4. Try to get Xylitol into your mouth 4 times a day.
Xylitol is a natural sweetener found in Birch trees, which helps reduce the formation of plaque.
In order to use it 4 times a day, you can:
Use a toothpaste that contains xylitol, such as Spry or CTX-3. Brush with it twice a day, morning and night…This covers 2x a day for xylitol already!
Next, maybe chew some sugarless gum that contains Xylitol, such as Ice Cubes, or Trident. Chewing gum can give you one or two more Xylitol exposures, depending on how many times you chew it. It also helps clean your mouth, just like the commercials say!
Use Xylimelts at night while you sleep.
These are small discs that gradually melt as you sleep, releasing xylitol all night long for you. They stick to the side of your teeth or gums. We have not had any patients report choking on them at night. Still, please use with caution according to the manufactures recommendations. Patients LOVE them and have reported no difficulty or problems so far.
Biotene, ACT, and Spry also make great products.
If you’re not a gum chewer, there are mouth sprays and lozenges to carry along with you during your day instead. These products help with the FEELING of dry mouth and also contain xylitol to help fight the bacteria.
5. Drink lots of water.
At least half of your weight, translated into ounces. So, if you weigh 160 pounds, you should drink 80 ounces of water a day.
6. Eat healthy.
Limit your sugar intake, as well as simple carbohydrates such as white bread. This will limit the growth of the plaque.
Click here to read which well-known diet has maintained the healthiest mouths, year after year.
And there you have it!
Try to follow these steps as closely as you can to fight that dry mouth.
It may be a good idea to visit your dentist more often. Maybe every 3-4 months, instead of 6, until you feel confident that you have the cavity situation under control.
Though it would be best if we did, we’ll never claim to know it all, all of the time. NO ONE knows it all! We do claim honesty, though, and we sincerely want to help as many people as we can! Our patients have maintained beautifully, following our conservative recommendations :)
So, thanks so much for reading and letting us spill our SODA! Remember to take the time to find your HONEST DENTIST, and be sure to browse around our links and follow us on social media for answers to more of your exciting dental questions, like:
