On May 25th, I posted information written by a friend of mine who we identified as “Suzie Q,” for privacy reasons. She has many health issues and is very eager to share her knowledge with people who may be able to identify with her and maybe benefit from what she has learned along the way.

So, she will now be referred to as Christina, and she has written yet another great post full of information. This post is on the horrible dry mouth that can affect many people who take medications for chronic pain or for the side effects of their pain medications.

And here is Christina’s post:

It often seems as if every single drug prescribed for me has dry mouth as a side effect, and I wind up with a situation better termed “Sahara Desert Mouth” than “dry mouth”. It is a minor irritation if you only have it for 5 or 10 days, but if you are taking medications that cause dry mouth 24/7, it can cause very significant problems.

The main problem is that your mouth was designed to be constantly bathed in saliva and if that doesn’t happen, both your gums and teeth can be affected. In my case, I did not have a consistent method of protecting my teeth from the additional damage.. As a result, after about 2 or 3 years of Sahara Mouth, I was faced with some of the consequence of excessively dry mouth – my gums receded in many areas. This exposes areas of the teeth that do not have a hard, protective layer of fluoride because they are supposed to be protected by the gum tissue that covers them.

Once a “soft” area of a tooth is exposed, the unprotected tooth surfaces will rapidly develop holes. If the holes are not filled as fast as they are created, the holes quickly become very deep and expose the nerve in the tooth. This is extremely painful, may lead to infection inside the roots of the tooth and an abscess in the area of the tooth may develop. The more of these problems you get (usually from putting off going to the dentist), the more treatment you will need, possibly including a root canal, a crown on the tooth, removal of one or more teeth, and/or gum grafting in areas where the gum has receded from several teeth in a row.

I am not qualified to list all the types of treatments that can be used in the situation described above, but I can discuss the treatment I underwent. First, the holes in the exposed roots were filled and two teeth were so badly damaged that they had to be removed. Next, gum grafts were performed in the 5 worst areas. Most people start to get pale and look faint at this point, but I found it to be a straightforward and painless process and though I did have a bit of discomfort for a few days after the grafts were done, I had more trouble forcing myself to stop poking the stitches with my tongue than anything else!

Having found out first hand how serious dry mouth can be, after the grafts all healed, I worked with my dentist and his technician to develop a plan to prevent future damage. Obviously, the point of the plan is to figure out ways to keep the mouth tissues moist and to protect any areas that became exposed due to further gum recession.

First of all, my dentist switched me to a prescription toothpaste that contains far more fluoride than over-the-counter toothpastes are allowed to contain. There are several brands available, so if you hate the taste of one, ask to try another. Second, he recommended a line of products made under the name “biotene” that are specifically made to help people cope with serious dry mouth problems. I use their mouthwash, chewing gum and “Oral Balance Dry Mouth Moisturizing Spray” along with making sure I always have water to drink within arm’s reach and a selection of sugar-free hard candies (generally meant for people with diabetes).

I brush 3 times a day with the prescription toothpaste (don’t rinse after you use it or the fluoride all gets washed off!) and floss once or twice a day. If I am doing something that leaves my hands free for grabbing my water bottle, then I make sure I drink every time I feel thirsty (about every 10 minutes or so). If my hands are busy (driving, etc), but I’m not around other people, I either chew the gum or suck on hard candies. I use the mouthwash mid-morning and mid-afternoon and I use the moisturizing spray just before I turn out the lights. I have to be careful with the hard candies because some of the sweeteners that are alternatives to sugar can trigger a migraine in my case, but I have found a number of perfectly acceptable choices.

All this sounds like a tremendous amount of work, but all the dental work I needed as a result of not having such a daily plan was tremendously expensive and not much fun either. Tasks that are slow at first (like flossing) become much easier with time, and the whole thing simply becomes another part of your daily routine.

In many people, only one or two changes may be needed to keep their teeth and mouth healthy. In others, more work is needed. I clearly fall into the latter group, and while I’d like to say I’d had no more problems since I instituted this plan, that isn’t the case. However, the problems are fewer in number, caught early, and treated promptly. Due to the number of teeth I’ve lost over the years, I recently got partial dentures – very much like an orthodontic retainer but with “fake” teeth in the spots where I have lost one. A big advantage is that if another tooth has to be pulled, the corresponding “fake” tooth can simply be added to my existing partial dentures.

I wish you all healthy teeth and a terrific dentist like I have!

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Do you have any questions for Christine? Any comments you would like to add about the problems of dry mouth? I know that people with disorders like Sjogren’s syndrome also have this problem, so I imagine that many of Christine’s suggestions may be helpful in that situation as well. If you do want to leave a message, please go back to the original page. Thanks!

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On May 25th, I posted information written by a friend of mine who we identified as “Suzie Q,” for privacy reasons. She has many health issues and is very eager to share her knowledge with people who may be able to identify with her and maybe benefit from what she has learned along the way.

So, she will now be referred to as Christina, and she has written yet another great post full of information. This post is on the horrible dry mouth that can affect many people who take medications for chronic pain or for the side effects of their pain medications.

And here is Christina’s post:

It often seems as if every single drug prescribed for me has dry mouth as a side effect, and I wind up with a situation better termed “Sahara Desert Mouth” than “dry mouth”. It is a minor irritation if you only have it for 5 or 10 days, but if you are taking medications that cause dry mouth 24/7, it can cause very significant problems.

Click here to read more.

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