What is Morning Mouth?
One of the things you will notice in the morning is that your mouth is dry. The main reason for this is that the saliva flow during sleep is low. Saliva is responsible for lubricating your mouth and less saliva means less lubrication and dryness. This causes the dead cells to stick to your tongue and inside your cheeks. Bacteria react with these cells thereby producing an unpleasant odor. This phenomenon is known as ‘Morning mouth’. If you take medications for blood pressure or depression it worsens the morning mouth. Alcohol dehydrates your body and reduces your saliva flow. Breathing through your mouth also will cause dry mouth. Stagnant saliva also will cause odor because of bacterial activity. This problem can be avoided by washing your mouth with clean water, drinking lots of water and eating things that stimulate saliva production. Avoid citric fruit juices in the early morning to avoid tooth enamel erosion.
