chronic dry mouth

This is a post, not a question, of what I found to work best for my chronic dry mouth.

I battled T4 squamous cell carcinoma in 2007. I had two surgeries followed by radiation and chemo therapy. As a result of the radiation my salivary glands are permanently damaged to where I experience chronic dry mouth. The condition is worse when I speak for periods of time, when I exercise or do work outdoors, and when I sleep. That is, anytime a large amount of air passes through my mouth.

I tried many of the commercially available solutions of which none of them work. I was told by my radiation therapist that sipping (salt) water from a bottle is the best solution. I agree, however, sipping from a bottle isn't conducive to living a productive life especially while trying to sleep!

That being the case I now use a dry mouth pump. It spurts a programmed amount of water into my mouth at programmed intervals. I can wear the dry mouth pump around my waist when exercising or working outdoors. I can set the dry mouth pump on the night stand and use it while I am sleeping; no more getting up for a bottle of water and I wake up with a wet mouth with no parts sticking together. The mouth piece of the dry mouth pump is a small wet sponge.

I find the dry mouth pump to be the most effective and economical method to remedy my chronic dry mouth.