How to Relieve Dry Mouth in Denture Wearers

If you’re missing one or more teeth, there are many tooth replacement options available to you. Whether you opt for full/partial dentures or implant-supported dentures, such solutions offer many benefits, including:

• Make it easier for you to speak and chew
• Decrease your risk of periodontal disease
• Prevent any remaining teeth from shifting in your mouth
• Ease the stress on your jaw

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At Future Smiles, we know how important your oral health is. That’s why we offer comprehensive and affordable denture solutions including traditional dentures and dental implants as well as flexible payment plans  to meet all your unique needs.

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Dry Mouth and Dentures

Full/partial dentures can make it easier to chew food and eat a wider variety of nutritious foods. They can also improve your appearance, if you have suffered from tooth loss. However, it is common for some dentures to suffer from dry mouth, which can be uncomfortable and negatively affect your health.

Why is saliva important for denture wearers?

Saliva is extremely important and essential to everyone’s health, but especially to denture wearers. This is because, saliva:

• Helps create suction between the denture and gum tissue, stabilizing the replacement teeth.
• Acts as a lubricant and prevents irritation and abrasion that may cause sore spots.
• Prevents many oral diseases, such as thrush or oral stomatitis.

This means that dry mouth may lead to loose dentures, irritations, sores, and possible infections for denture wearers.

What causes dry mouth?

While dry mouth can cause a lot of discomfort in denture wearers, it’s important to note that dentures DO NOT cause dry mouth. There are a number of other causes of this condition, including:
 

• Medication - Dry Mouth is a side effect of many common medications such as blood pressure medicine, decongestants and antidepressants
• Habits - Certain habits such as breathing through your mouth, dehydration and using tobacco related products all contribute to dry mouth.
• Illnesses - Systemic illnesses such as diabetes, salivary gland tumors, digestive problems and liver dysfunction all result in dry mouth.
• Aging - As we age, our salivary glands tend to produce less saliva, resulting in dry mouth.
• Radiation Therapy - Radiation therapy, often used to treat cancer, can result in reduced salivary gland function.

What are the symptoms of dry mouth?

People who suffer from dry mouth often experience a number of uncomfortable symptoms, including:

• Difficulty speaking
• Bad breath
• A feeling of soreness in the mouth
• Cracking at the corners of the mouth
• Red and parched mouth
• Pebbled-looking tongue
• Food not tasting like it used to
• A tendency to wake up more at night

If you are experiencing any of the above and are finding your dentures uncomfortable, it’s important to visit your local Calgary denturist so they can assess your symptoms and suggest possible solutions to make you more comfortable.

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How To Relieve Dry Mouth

Dry mouth can make wearing dentures uncomfortable and render eating more difficult. To relieve the dryness, you should:

• sip on water or sugar-free drinks often during the day.
• chew sugar-free gum or sweets to stimulate saliva flow.
• avoid drinks which dry out the mouth including caffeine and alcohol.
• avoid tobacco products.
• consider using saliva substitute products that keep your mouth moist and more lubricated such as rinses, gels and sprays.

If you’re using a type of medication where dry mouth might be a side-effect, talk to your doctor to see if there is an acceptable alternative that doesn’t produce dry mouth. However, DO NOT stop using your prescribed medication without talking to your doctor first.

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To find out more about our affordable denture solutions, including dental implants and flexible partials, contact our Calgary clinic at (403) 475-0016 or fill in our online contact form.