3 Major Causes of Dry Mouth When Sleeping
You wake up to a very dry mouth and it’s causing soreness in your throat. The reason behind this is that you are experiencing dry mouth when sleeping. When a person is asleep, saliva is not produced due to the mouth’s inactivity. This is one of the reasons why a person ends up with a dry mouth in the morning.
1. Salivary Glands
The salivary glands are responsible for producing saliva in the mouth. The mouth has three pairs: sublingual, submandibular and parotid. Aside from these three, there are other tiny salivary glands in the mouth producing saliva. With all these glands, how do you wake up with a dry mouth? This indicates that there is clearly a problem that is causing your dry mouth when sleeping.
2. Some Causes of Dry Mouth
When sleeping, the lack of mouth activity contributes to the drying of the mouth. However, this shouldn’t make you feel uncomfortable as everyone does not produce saliva when they sleep. One of the causes of dry mouth when sleeping is snoring. Since snoringallows air to move in and out of the mouth, it can add to the dryness. Taking medication before sleeping can also add to the dryness. If you’re taking decongestants or muscle relaxants, your dry mouth can be caused by these drugs.
3. Importance of Saliva
It is a must that you get your dry mouth treated because the mouth and its salivary glands should continue producing saliva at a regular rate. Saliva is very important as it contains antibodies that help ward off germs and bacteria in the mouth. Saliva also protects the teeth from acidic foods that can cause teeth deterioration.
There is no need to panic when you have dry mouth when sleeping. This is very normal and can easily be treated. You just have to determine the cause to know the appropriate cure or treatment to take.
