Your mouth needs saliva to work properly. Saliva keeps your mouth moist, and it helps to break down your food and helps you to swallow. It also acts as a cleanser. It is constantly washing around your mouth and teeth, fighting tooth decay and helping to keep your teeth clean. Dry mouth or ‘xerostomia’ is a condition which affects the flow of saliva, causing your mouth to feel dry.
How can I tell I have dry mouth?
The most obvious symptom is, of course, a dry mouth. Some people feel that their saliva has become thick and sticky, making it difficult to speak or swallow. Some people also have a ‘prickly’ or burning sensation in their mouth and become sensitive to certain foods. The mouth can become sore and there is a higher risk of tooth decay and gum disease. In some cases, the mouth can also become red and shiny.
What can cause dry mouth?
Dry mouth can be a symptom of many different problems and can occur as you get older. Quite often it is a side effect of medication—especially heart, blood pressure and depression tablets. Your doctor, pharmacist or dental team should be able to tell you whether your medication can cause problems. Dry mouth can also be caused by medical treatments such as radiotherapy, or surgery to the head or neck. In some cases, dry mouth can be a direct result of a medical condition (for example diabetes, lupus, Sjogren’s syndrome and blocked salivary glands).
Are women more likely to get dry mouth?
Women who are going through menopause may suffer from dry mouth. Women who have had their menopause and are taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may also find they suffer from dry mouth. If you are taking medication and have any of the symptoms of dry mouth, talk to your physician and dentist to formulate a treatment plan.
If you, your family or friends need dental care, we would be honored to provide you with state-of-the-art dental care in our modern dental practice. Refer someone you love to someone you trust!
Presented as a service to the community by Doctors Hoover and Yanda,
39 Milford Drive, Hudson, Ohio 44236. 330-650-0360. www.drshooverandyanda.com
While we certainly have many patients who have traditional dental insurance plans, there is a new method of paying for dental services that is becoming a very popular. A Concierge Plan is an in-office plan that helps patients afford their needed dentistry. It is not traditional dental insurance, but rather a “membership plan”, similar to plans like Costco, Amazon Prime, Sam’s Club, etc. For one very affordable annual fee, a patient in our office receives a comprehensive exam for new patients, two professional cleanings and two periodic exams per year, an emergency exam if needed, a full-mouth series of x-rays every five years, one set of bitewing x-rays per year, two fluoride treatments per year if needed and 15% off of any other dental treatment they have done within that year. There is no limit on how much dentistry can be received. We have other plans too for families and for periodontal patients who need more frequent cleanings. 
Q: What type of cosmetic dentistry options are there?
You will need a root canal if your tooth has damage to its dental pulp, the soft tissue that surrounds nerves in the center of the tooth. 
Complications of a Root Canal
What Should One Expect After the Root Canal?
A root canal requires one or more office visits and can be performed by a general dentist or an endodontist. An endodontist is a dentist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries of the dental pulp or the nerve of the tooth. Our office is very experienced in performing root canal therapy, so we do them regularly. We do refer to endodontists for more complicated cases.