What Can You Do if Your Elderly Loved One Is Dealing with Dry Mouth?

Your loved one might experience dry mouth for a variety of different reasons. What can matter the most for her is how you and she work together to resolve it.

Talk to Both Her Doctor and Her Dentist

Your loved one’s doctor and her dentist can each help you get to the bottom of dry mouth. They attack the problem from different angles, which gives you a broader range of help. Your loved one’s doctor will look at potential and existing health conditions as well as prescription medications that might contribute. Her dentist can rule out dental causes.

Look at How Much Water Your Loved One Drinks

If your loved one isn’t wild about drinking much water, that can make dry mouth worse. Start keeping track of how much water your loved one drinks and gradually increase that amount by a glass of water a day. Your loved one’s doctor may be able to do some tests as well to determine if your loved one is dehydrated and needs extra help.

Check Humidity Levels

Having a dry environment inside your loved one’s house can create or contribute to dryness in her mouth, too. Using a humidifier can add just enough moisture to the air to help her body to recover. If you’re not ready to use a humidifier, consider adding some houseplants to the house to start gradually adding more moisture to the air.

Keep a Food Diary

Some people find that certain foods can dry out their mouth if they eat them regularly. One way you can determine if that is the case for your loved one is to help her to keep a food diary. As you notate what your loved one eats, also be sure to write down how she feels and whether her mouth dried out or not afterward.

Brush and Rinse After Eating

Brushing and rinsing after meals can help to remove debris from food, of course, but it can also help to refresh your loved one’s mouth if she typically experiences dry mouth after eating. This can especially be helpful if your loved one is using over-the-counter moisturizers made for people with dry mouths.

If your loved one has a protocol for handling dry mouth, be sure to let other people know about it. Senior care providers and other family members can help her better when they know what to do.

If you or an aging loved one are considering senior care in Perth Amboy, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Care Street Home Care of New Brunswick today. Call (732) 607-8870.