Seems to me, one of the most debilitating problems that I deal with on a daily basis for many of my patients is a dry mouth. Xerostomia or lack of saliva can occur for so many reasons… But quite often it is a side effect of the medications we take. Saliva is produced in our mouth by our three main salivary glands…Parotid, submandibular and sublingual. In addition, there are hundreds of minor salivary glands. When everything is working just right, there usually is about 1-quart of liquid made per day…enough to fill 2-medium sized bath tubs per year. But suffice to say, that we produce less saliva as we sleep (less our pillows would be soaked by morning) and less as we age or from dehydration. When we are scared or nervous the saliva flow drops. The phrase “scared spitless ” comes from this this condition. Cancer, radiation therapy and smoking also causes the saliva to dry up. So if any of you have experienced a dry mouth, temporarily or permanent then you understand how uncomfortable this can be.
Stay tuned , as I would like to share with you some reasons we need “spit” in our lives. Often, something as simple as our saliva is taken taken for granted for the multiple thankless jobs it performs until it is not there!
