Xerostomia

Dry mouth ( xerostomia Greek, English xerostomia ) refers to the dryness of the oral cavity, which can have various causes.

Causes

Dry mouth is a common side effect of drugs such as anticholinergics, atropine and hyoscyamine, diuretics or psychotropic drugs. Causes can be diseases such as sialadenitis, Sjögren's syndrome, the sicca syndrome or Heerfordt syndrome. In addition, removal of salivary glands, radiation therapy, febrile diseases, taking tetrahydrocannabinol or chronic stress with increased sympathetic tone may cause dry mouth. Another cause of dry mouth may be an increased mouth breathing. The resulting highly viscous saliva dry mouth can cause inflammation in the excretory ducts of the salivary glands, particularly affected here is the sublingual gland ( sublingual ).

Follow

The direct (unpleasant ) consequences are the dryness of the oral mucous membranes and dysphagia. That way, problems arise when speaking and eating dry food. Also falling asleep can be difficult.

Chronic sufferers usually suffer in terms of their dental health. Common result is tooth decay in the absence of the protective substances present normal salivary flow. Normal saliva contains a number of antimicrobial active ingredients, inter alia, immunoglobulin A ( antibody), lysozyme ( enzyme), lactoferrin and histatin ( protein).

Therapy

Systemic therapy is not known. Symptomatic therapy is done by saliva substitute products ( wetting gel, aerosol, mouthwash, chew ).