subject: Xerostomia - Cure and Prevention the Natural Way [print this page] Xerostomia - Cure and Prevention the Natural Way
What is Xerostomia?
Xerostomia is the medical term for dry mouth. It is also known as salivary gland hypofunction. Dry mouth as the name refers to a subjective feeling of oral dryness due to a lack of saliva. It is not a diagnosis but a symptom. For this symptom to appear, the person's unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rate must be depressed to a certain level.
How does Xerostomia impact dental care?
Xerostomia is not a normal condition. Other bodily fluids like blood, urine and even tears have been widely used as indicators of health and disease. Saliva, however, has been largely ignored. Saliva protects our teeth and oral tissues. It also aids in digestion, taste and speech and is also a sensitive indicator of serious systemic conditions and diseases. Having a dry mouth is not normal and the general public needs to recognize this condition and bring it to the attention of their doctors and dentists.
Patients with dry mouths who do not seek preventive dental care in the early stages will usually present with severe dental caries (decay). This may be accompanied by mucositis or general inflammation of the oral tissues. Saliva with its immunoglobulins and other protective enzymes helps with food clearance thus preventing tooth decay. It also lines and protects the oral mucosa thus preventing recurrent oral infections.
How do you know that your Xerostomia is getting worse?
Our salivary glands are like factories. They need raw materials, machines and electricity to function and produce the end-products. If there is any disruption in this production line, the end-products get affected. Applying this to our salivary glands, we know that if there is any interference in the supply of metabolites including water, damage to the glands or failure in neural transmission can result in a reduction in the synthesis of saliva.
Xerostomia may present early with little or mild symptoms. Symptoms worsen when there is increased difficulty in speech and eating, This may be coupled with halitosis or bad breath. To determine if xerostomia is getting worse, we can test the salivary gland function. This can be done by collecting saliva and determining the amount produced in a five minute period. Other objective evidence of salivary gland involvement is tested through ultrasound examinations and/ or a parotid sialography.
Studies have shown that 1 in 4 adults complained of dry mouth and its associated symptoms. This coupled with the fact that about 40% of the elderly complained of dry mouth goes on to show that it is quite a common condition.
