How To Control Drooling Of Saliva While Sleeping And Snoring?

Posted on Sun, 21 Apr 2013

Question: Hi Doctor. May I know how to prevent foul smell saliva wetting the pillow during sleep. This occurs almost every night. This person snores a lot as well. I want to put an end to this problem. Please give me complete guide, as to medicine to take, food to eat and exercise required to stop/prevent it.

thank you.

Answered by Dr. Bindiya Bhaskar (47 minutes later)

Hello,

Thanks for posting your query in XXXXXXX forum.

The drooling of saliva while sleeping is due to the habit of sleeping without proper closure of mouth.
This occurs due to-
Mouth-breathing habit.
Tongue thrusting habit.
Bruxism.
Hypotonic lips.
Protruded maxilla causing anterior open bite.
Skeletal class-2 malocclusion.

The foul smell of saliva may be due to-
Increased mucous secretion of saliva.
Improper oral hygiene resulting in bad odor.
Decayed teeth resulting in food lodgement.
Pericoronitis due to impacted wisdom tooth.

A thorough clinical examination is required to solve the issue.

I would suggest you to-
Brush your teeth twice daily using Interdental toothbrush involving all aspects of teeth in back-forth, up-down motion.
Rinse your mouth after every meal to prevent plaque accumulation.
Use chlorhexidine mouthwash to gargle before bed-time.
Please stop frequent use of chewing-gum as it can alter consistency of saliva.
Please do visit a dentist to get your alignment of teeth corrected if misplaced.
Orthodontic appliances can be used for this.
To stop mouth-breathing habit, vestibular screen and alternatively adhesive taps can be used to establish lip seal.
Night guards can be used to prevent bruxism habit.
To relieve muscle tension, relaxing exercises and massage can be done.
Get your teeth cleaned as well as decayed teeth restored.
Also get the consistency of saliva checked. Get the impacted/grossly decayed tooth extracted.

The drooling of foul smelling saliva stops once the above mentioned procedures are followed.

Hope this suffices.
Please feel free to ask further concerns.
Take care.
DR XXXXXXX XXXXXXX

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Bindiya Bhaskar (22 minutes later)

If he needs to see a doctor, what kind of specialist will he be asking from?

Answered by Dr. Bindiya Bhaskar (38 minutes later)

I would suggest a visit to an orthodontist to correct the alignment of teeth as well as to use habit breaking appliance. It is also worthwhile to get scaling/restoration/extraction done by a general practice dentist.

Hope this clears your doubts. Let me know if you need clarifications.

I wish you good health.

DR XXXXXXX XXXXXXX

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad