When our mouths are in their normal resting state, the lips are closed and we breathe through our nose. This allows saliva to be present in the mouth and keep all the teeth moist and protected. When you suffer from dry mouth whether it’s the result of a medication, frequent mouth breathing, or not drinking enough water, saliva production is impacted.

Your saliva keeps the pH of your mouth neutral and therefore stops harmful acids from affecting your teeth. These acids are often produced by consumption of certain acidic foods such as sugar, and they can attack your tooth enamel and lead to tooth decay.

Dry Mouth Erodes Tooth Enamel

Your dry mouth is directly impacting your tooth enamel. Enamel protects your teeth from bacteria and cavities that can eat away at the tooth. When we have adequate saliva in our mouths, the saliva acts as a buffer between any harmful acids or bacteria and our enamel. This means enamel is much less likely to be impacted when saliva is present. When saliva is lacking, tooth enamel stands a greater chance of being eroded. There’s no buffer, so the enamel is directly exposed to bacteria that could slowly erode the enamel. After your tooth enamel is gone, there’s no replacing it and tooth sensitivity and decay often result.

Saliva Keeps Plaque and Bacteria Away

Saliva helps to balance bacteria that help us chew, speak, and swallow. Without saliva, our mouths have a more difficult time functioning. Food is more difficult to chew, meaning larger particles or more particles may get stuck in our mouths. Saliva usually helps remove these food particles and prevents them from making a home in between our teeth and causing decay later on.

Your saliva also plays an important role in stopping bad breath. When bacteria are balanced, plaque is less likely to stick to teeth and attack the tooth enamel. This also means you have fresher breath in addition to a healthier smile! Bad breath is often a sign of gum disease, so check with your dentist if you’re noticing any changes.

Dry mouth may appear innocent on the surface, but this condition is much more damaging to teeth than people think. If you suspect you have dry mouth, visit your doctor or dentist to find out what the problem is. In the meantime, sip on water as often as possible and try not to breathe through your mouth. Getting the cause of dry mouth addressed is essential to having a healthy smile for the future!

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Medications for high blood pressure such as alpha or beta blockers and calcium channel blockers can all cause dry mouth. Some of these medications may also be used to help treat other conditions such as heart complications or even diabetes. These include medications such as Verelan, Tiazac, and Norvasc. Let your dentist know if you’re taking medication for high blood pressure or your heart!

Antidepressants or Antipsychotic Medications

These include medications that can help with depression as well as bipolar disorder or even schizophrenia. Dry mouth is a very typical symptom associated with antidepressants or antipsychotic medications. These include medications such as Abilify, Risperdal, and Seroquel. Some of these medications are also used to treat attention deficient disorder (ADD) or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) as well.

Pain Medications

Pain medications are infamous for causing a dry mouth sensation! These medications have an antisecretory effect on the body, meaning that they reduce the secretion of normal body fluids such as saliva when taken. Pain medications may be taken regularly for chronic pain or only prescribed for certain temporary conditions or surgeries. Pain medications include codeine, Demerol, and Vicodin. These are only available through a prescription and should only be taken under the guidance of a physician.

Antihistamines

Antihistamines commonly help with seasonal allergy symptoms such as a runny nosy or itchy, watering eyes. You may also experience dry mouth while taking these medications. They’re commonly available over the counter but may also come as prescription. People may take these medications regularly or only during allergy seasons. Examples of antihistamines include Zyrtec, Benadryl, and Allegra.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are commonly prescribed for a variety of bacterial infections or illnesses and can also cause dry mouth. Not all antibiotics cause this side effect—the most notable ones are antibiotics for sinus infections, pneumonia, and ear infections. Such antibiotics include amoxicillin and Zmax. It’s always important to drink lots of water when taking a round of antibiotics. Sipping water can help you to replenish your saliva throughout the day!

There are over 400 medications that could cause you to have dry mouth—these are just a few! Could your medicine be one of them? Talk to your doctor or dentist about your medications, especially if you’re experiencing dry mouth or notice a decline in your oral health. You could need treatment to ensure your mouth will remain healthy while taking your medication!

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When we eat, especially sugary foods, the sugars become acids on our teeth. Acids wear down tooth enamel. For about half an hour after eating a meal, your teeth are in a weakened state from the acids. Tooth enamel remineralizes or hardens during this time, but brushing while it’s trying to build itself back up can just cause more damage.

Brushing to remove food particles and bacteria twice a day is important to reduce the risk of gum disease, but as long as you are brushing at least two times every day and avoiding brushing within half an hour of eating, you can brush whenever it is convenient for you. Some people don’t like to brush before a meal because the minty taste of the toothpaste interferes with the taste of their food. Toothpaste can also make food taste bad because it contains sodium laureth sulfate. This ingredient is responsible for the foaming action of toothpaste in the mouth; it is the same ingredient that makes shampoo lather up. Toothpaste does not need SLS to work, so using a brand of toothpaste that does not contain SLS can make eating after brushing more pleasing.

If you do choose to brush before eating, you can help to eliminate food particles and bacteria with a mouth rinse after the meal. Chewing sugarless gum after meals can also stimulate saliva, which helps to wash away acids.

Remember that plaque builds up throughout the day, and at night when we sleep. This is the reason most people experience “morning breath,” and this is another reason that brushing before breakfast is beneficial. A good morning routine could be to brush, eat, and then rinse with mouthwash. If you really prefer to brush after eating, try to wait half an hour or at least 20 minutes. You should also always use fluoride toothpaste no matter when you brush, to keep your tooth enamel strong.

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The first problem is that alcohol is drying. The saliva in your mouth helps to wash away bacteria and food particles after you eat. Because alcohol has a drying effect, it inhibits the production of saliva. The acid in alcohol softens tooth enamel, the hard surface of your teeth. After you drink alcohol, don’t brush your teeth right away. If you do, the toothbrush on the softened teeth can do damage. After about 20 minutes, the enamel has had time to build up again; then it is a good idea to brush your teeth to clean them and get water and moisture back into your mouth.

Alcohol consumption before bed is not a good idea because it can increase the chance of nighttime teeth grinding. Called bruxism, teeth grinding is a habit that many people are not even aware that they have. Teeth grinding can happen while you’re sleeping, and it can wear down your teeth and cause headaches, jaw pain and TMJ disorder. Alcohol before bed affects the part of the brain that is involved in sleep and makes it more likely that you will grind your teeth during the night.

People who drink alcohol heavily can develop a B complex vitamin deficiency. This can cause problems in the mouth including canker sores, burning sensations in the mouth, difficulty swallowing and swollen tongue. Alcoholism is also a risk factor for oral cancer.

Alcohol can also lead to oral health problems indirectly by contributing to poor oral hygiene. Someone who is experiencing mouth sores or burning sensations will have a hard time brushing their teeth, so they may not brush as often as they should. Frequent alcohol consumption can also cause a person to develop a tolerance for local anesthetics used by dentists. Someone who finds that they are not thoroughly numbed before dental work is likely to start skipping dental appointments.

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