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Are you annoyed by waking up frequently at night because your mouth keeps getting dry while sleeping? And you guys have to chill! There’s nothing to worry about; having an extremely dry mouth at night is not something serious! Here is the answer to what causes an extremely dry mouth while sleeping1.
1. What is a Dry Mouth?
Saliva plays a vital role in keeping our oral condition healthy. The phosphate and calcium in saliva help fight the oral cavity and help to swallow and moisten the mouth and food.
When those salivary glands, which are located around the mouth and the throat, don’t produce enough saliva, it causes a condition called Xerostomia2, commonly known as “dry mouth.”
1.1. Why is Saliva so Important?
The salivary glands are responsible for saliva production and help keep the digestive system and mouth moist.
Saliva helps moisten the food particles, kills germs, neutralizes acid, prevents bad breath, tooth decay, and gum disease, and helps protect the tooth enamel. It also helps in tasting food, chewing, swallowing, and moistening the food. It is a crucial part of the digestion process.
2. Symptoms of a Dry Mouth

Waking up with a dry mouth must be very uncomfortable, as it can lead to chapped lips, mouth sores, oral cavities, etc. So here are a few symptoms of dry mouth that you can recognize for yourself:
2.1. Sore Throat
As there is not enough saliva production, there will be no moisture in the mouth and the throat. It may lead to extreme dryness in the throat and difficulty chewing, which can be painful.
And you will wake up again and again in the middle of the night because you may find it difficult to breathe due to mouth dryness.
2.2. Not Being Able to Speak
A dry mouth leads to hoarseness, cracked lips, and a burning sensation in the mouth, which leads to not being able to speak. It might get very uncomfortable.
2.3. Tooth Decay and Bad Breath
If there is not enough saliva production from the salivary glands in the mouth, there won’t be anything to fight off the bacteria or help neutralize the acid in the mouth. This may lead to gum diseases, an increase in plaque, enamel erosion, tooth decay, and bad breath. The bad breath may last the whole day.
2.4. Changed Sense of Taste
Saliva helps with tasting. If there is not much saliva, you won’t be able to taste the food properly, and it will have an unpleasant taste.
2.5. Thick Saliva
A dry mouth may cause the sticky feeling of thick saliva to build up in the morning. It could also be a sign of dehydration, so drink water.
2.6. Mouth Sores
If you have a dry mouth, it may lead to a burning sensation in the mouth, and it may stop you from using mouthwear like dentures too. A dry mouth may form sores and yeast infections (thrush).
3. What Causes an Extremely Dry Mouth While Sleeping?

Things that may cause dry mouth at night and to look out for:
3.1. Medical Treatments
Dry mouth occurs due to certain medications like pain medications, muscle relaxants, appetite suppressants, chemotherapy medications, high blood pressure, mental health conditions like anxiety, allergies, digestion problems, prescription drugs, etc. Taking such medications, or if you take more than one or multiple medications, can lead to chronic dry mouth.
3.2. Cancer Treatment
In cancer treatment, two therapies are performed. They are called radiation therapy and chemotherapy. In radiation therapy, if the radiation is directed at your head or neck, it may cause damage to the salivary glands, which leads to long-term dry mouth.
In chemotherapy, the dry mouth condition might be temporary, though it may occur later in the treatment or immediately after, depending on the drug.
3.3. Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drug Use
Chewing tobacco, drug use, smoking, and drinking alcohol or cold drinks may increase dry mouth symptoms. Alcohol and cold drinks are acidic and lead to dehydration, bad oral health, and severe dry mouth.
On December 21, 2010, there was a study done on the effect of long-term smoking on saliva production and salivary glands. About 39% of smokers reported having symptoms of dry mouth.
3.4. Mouth Breathing
The way you sleep might be the reason for your dry mouth. You can have symptoms of dry mouth from mouth breathing (breathing while your mouth is open).
It could either be a habit, or you might have a blocked nose and nasal passages. It causes snoring and sleep apnea or some other health conditions.
There was a study held on August 11th, 2006, about mouth dryness caused by sleep apnea, and among 1000 subjects, 3.2% claimed that they frequently experienced dry mouth.
3.5. Aging
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), dry mouth symptoms are something you may notice more of as you age. Around 30% and 40% of people over the age of 65 and 80, respectively, complain about having a dry mouth.
Poor nutrition and poorly controlled diabetes will lead to dehydration and high blood sugar levels, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, HIV/AIDS, mouth sores, and yeast infections in the mouth, and it can make the condition of dry mouth worse.
3.6. Alzheimer’s Disease
People with Alzheimer’s disease3 don’t have strong urges to drink water, as they are not drinking enough water, which leads to dehydration, and their medication is so strong that it makes their mouths dry up.
Hence, Alzheimer’s patients suffer from xerostomia or are more at risk of getting dry mouth while sleeping.
3.7. Sjögren’s Disease
In Sjögren’s syndrome4, the immune system deactivates the salivary glands and tear glands by attacking them, which results in inflammation.
The inflammation may damage the glands, and the fluid production may stop resulting in a dry mouth. It might happen because of nerve damage as well.
4. Things You Can Do to Treat Dry Mouth
Treatments you can try to help with dry mouth are as follows:
4.1. Visit a Doctor

They will review your medical history and check what medications or over-the-counter medications are causing dry mouth at night.
They will also check your mouth and maybe take blood tests and scans of your salivary glands to find the root cause of your dry mouth while sleeping.
If the doctor thinks medication is the problem. You can change your medication or reduce the dosage to get rid of dry mouth.
To prevent it, take help from things to keep the mouth moist, like artificial saliva, saliva substitutes, rinses, or medications to help in saliva production.
They might also recommend using fluoride toothpaste and nasal strips for better breathing at night.
4.2. Other Tricks That Might Help

- Try to be hydrated by drinking at least 8-7 bottles of water, as dehydration leads to less saliva production.
- Using a humidifier at night adds moisture to the air.
- Avoid eating sugary, spicy, and acidic foods before sleeping. It will lead to a dry mouth while sleeping if you do not stop. Avoid using alcohol and drugs, too.
- Chewing sugar-free gum will help increase saliva production and may help with bad breath difficulties.
- 4.2.5. If you brush and floss twice a day and regularly, oral health conditions will improve.
5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
5.1. When Should You Visit a Doctor?
Ans: If the dry mouth or the symptoms of dry mouth persist for a long time, or if they make you very uncomfortable and disrupt your everyday life, then you should go and have it checked out by a doctor.
Doctors will check your medical history and might take a few small tests; it’s nothing to be worried about.
5.2. Any Home Remedies to Help with Dry Mouth?
Ans. Decrease caffeine intake if you take some regularly, as it dries up your mouth.
Try keeping ice cubes in your mouth! I know that it sounds weird, but as you suck on the ice cube it melts in your mouth, which may make your mouth wet and moistened a dry mouth. Also, when eating check your salt intake!
Some beverages or drinks you can try are green tea with lemon or herbal tea etc. And sugar-free drinks.
Eat protein-rich meals; having a proper diet with high protein may help.
5.3. Is it Okay to Have a Dry Mouth While Sleeping?
Even though having a dry mouth is not something to be overly worried about as it’s usually nothing serious, it may indicate having some underlying diseases.
So, if the dry mouth continues, to be on the safe side, it’s good to get it checked out.
Overall
A dry mouth while sleeping or normally is not serious and can happen to anyone. If it’s too humid outside or you don’t drink enough water, your water intake is too low to nourish the body and moisten the mouth.
What causes an extremely dry mouth while sleeping? Dehydration is one of the main causes. People nowadays forget to drink as the world is too busy doing work, and they don’t take care of themselves. Staying hydrated is very important as global warming keeps increasing.
Suffering from a dry mouth for a long time may cause oral health problems. Having good oral health is very important, and not taking care of it properly may cause severe dental problems.
So, drink loads of water and stay hydrated, fellas!
- Sreebny, Leo M., and Arjan Vissink, eds. Dry mouth, the malevolent symptom: a clinical guide. John Wiley & Sons, 2010. ↩︎
- Guggenheimer, James, and Paul A. Moore. “Xerostomia: etiology, recognition and treatment.” The journal of the american dental association 134.1 (2003): 61-69. ↩︎
- Ship, Jonathan A. “Oral health of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.” The Journal of the American Dental Association 123.1 (1992): 53-58. ↩︎
- Fox, Robert I. “Sjögren’s syndrome.” The Lancet 366.9482 (2005): 321-331. ↩︎
Last Updated on by Sathi