Happy New Year! We hope you all had a lovely Christmas time and had a chance to relax and chill. Dr Stone had fun cooking and doing holiday jobs while Kylie pulled apart her kitchen and Emma went camping. In between that there was family, fun and frivolity in the sun of course!
One dental issue that does seem to become more obvious in the summer months is if your mouth feels dry regularly. This can be a product of dehydration and it may be necessary to drink more fluids especially water. It can also be with all the parties over the summer that you consume more alcohol than usual and this will also dry your mouth. The most common reason for older people is the combination of medications for other issues that can cause salivary glands to not produce as much saliva as they should or change the consistency of the saliva. Antidepressants, some high blood pressure medications, some eye drops and some other medications can have a dry mouth as a side effect. This is often more obvious with more than one medication.
A dry mouth can lead to increased tooth decay or erosion as the teeth are not buffered as well as they need to be from sugar or from acid (dietary or reflux). It can also lead to ulceration, difficulty in wearing dentures, oral infections, gum disease, burning sensations from time to time and bad breath. It is best to have these symptoms checked with your dentist so we can consider treatment options for you. There are a range of products that could be useful for symptom control as well as discussion with your GP about other styles of drugs or combination of drugs or time of use of the drug that can have less of this side effect. Feel free to chat to our dentist or hygienist if you feel you have a dry mouth.
See you in the clinic. The Adelaide City Dental Care team.