Dry mouth affects between one-third and one-half of seniors. While it is an irritating problem, it can also lead to some very serious conditions.
According to WebMD, the main causes of dry mouth in seniors are medication side effects, disease, medical treatments, and lifestyle. Sadly, three of the top four reasons for dry mouth are either ailments or things that have been prescribed to help another medical condition. For example, dry mouth is one of the common side effects of drugs used to treat depression, allergies, pain, hypertension, asthma, and Parkinson's disease. It is also commonly associated with muscle relaxants and sedatives. Since seniors tend to take more medications than other