Your saliva carries out a handful of jobs:

• It lubricates and protects the mucous membranes and soft tissues of the mouth

• It jumpstarts the digestion of food, in particular the starch it contains

• It assists the tongue in detecting various tastes

• It makes it easier to chew and swallow food

• It keeps the oral cavity clean by washing away food particles

• It kills microbes that can cause all kinds of problems related to the mouth

• It supplies the teeth with the minerals that they need such as calcium and phosphorus

As you can see, your saliva plays so many important different roles.

That is why mouth dryness can be a problem each time you eat as well as do other stuff that involves the mouth. Worry not because sometimes having a dry mouth can be due to things that can be easily resolved. However, there are also instances in which it can be blamed on some serious matters.

Keep on reading if you want to get introduced to some of the most common causes of mouth dryness.

Don’t forget to share this article on your various social media sites later on so that everyone you care about may also learn that mouth dryness can be due to:

Smoking Cigarettes

It’s no secret that cigarette smoking can considerably increase your risk of having lung cancer and heart disease.

The nasty habit can also wreak havoc on your mouth in a number of ways — it can make your breath reek and leave your pearly whites stained.

Did you know that cigarette smoking can also decrease saliva production, thus leaving your mouth dry?

Breathing Through the Mouth

From time to time, people breathe through their mouths because of many different reasons.

Having nasal congestion due to allergies, the common cold, flu and sinus infections is something that can leave a person with no choice but to breathe through his or her mouth.

Needless to say, breathing through the mouth can cause the oral cavity to end up dry.

Snoring

It’s not uncommon for you snore if you are really tired, out of shape or suffering from a clogged nose.

Unfortunately, it is a different story if you snore a lot — you may have sleep apnea which is a sleep disorder.

Sleep apnea is something that should be taken seriously as it involves temporary breathing cessations while you’re asleep, depriving your brain and the rest of your body of oxygen.

Stress and Anxiety

When you are stressed, your bloodstream is flooded with stress hormones and your body goes into a fight-or-flight response.

There are many different indicators that your body is already in that mode, and dryness of the mouth is just one of them.

It’s also not unlikely for you to experience mouth dryness each time you are having an anxiety attack. Other than the fight-or-flight response, hyperventilating can also be blamed for it.

Dehydration

Sometimes mouth dryness is due to something as simple as not drinking enough water.

There are many signs and symptoms associated with being dehydrated, and one of those is mouth dryness due to decreased saliva production.

Per day, experts recommend for you to consume about 2 liters of water. Such is not only for keeping your mouth lubricated, but also making sure that your cells and tissues are working optimally.

WARNING: In some instances, mouth dryness is due to an underlying medical condition that needs to be diagnosed and treated. So if your mouth dryness refuses to go away after some time and/or it’s accompanied by other unusual symptoms, it is a good idea for you to pay your doctor a visit without delay.