Dry mouth symptoms and home treatments

Dry mouth or cotton mouth are the more common names for a medical condition known as xerostomia. People affected by this find that they have very little saliva in their mouths. This adversely affects their ability to speak, eat or even swallow.


There are a variety of reasons for the development of this medical condition. Some people react to stress by developing cotton mouth while still others find that certain medications, taken in combination, cause cotton mouth. Sometime advancing age also causes the appearance of this condition in people.

This condition is caused when there is a reduction in the saliva in the mouth. This happens when the salivary glands in our mouth stop working properly. A reduction in the amount of saliva in the mouth when salivary glands do not work properly is responsible for this condition. When the salivary glands do not function properly they lay the mouth open to a variety of risks like the development of tooth decay since saliva helps prevent the decay of teeth by washing away the remnants of the food eaten. Saliva helps to neutralize harmful acids and keeps the tissue in your mouth healthy.

The first step to treat this would be to increase your intake of water. You can also try keeping ice cubes in your mouth since sucking on these will help. You can also try rinsing your mouth with water to which a pinch of baking soda has been added. You should ensure that you don't smoke or drink and that your food is not very salty. Avoiding citrus juices will help too.