The excessive production of saliva is known medically as hypersalivation. It’s an issue that anyone can face, but it’s particularly common among people who have just started wearing dentures. There’s no need to be worried or embarrassed – simply follow these tips to help eliminate hypersalivation.

Don’t Over-Wear Your Dentures

Hypersalivation tends to affect people who have just started with dentures because the mouth is still registering them as a foreign body – for the same reason, hypersalivation often affects those with retainers or braces. People with dentures often try curing this problem by wearing their dentures all day and night, but this actually has the opposite effect. Place too much pressure on certain parts of the mouth for too long and the stress can increase saliva production.

Eat the Right Snacks

If you’re worried about hypersalivation, why not try embracing the short-term solution of eating dry snacks? It’s not something you should keep doing if the problem doesn’t sort itself out after you’ve been wearing your dentures for a week or two, but snacking on foods that are quite dry, such as crackers, can help reduce the amount of saliva in your mouth. It’s a great tip when you need to meet someone or make an important phone call.

Avoid the Wrong Foods

As well as eating drier snacks, try cutting down on sweet and sour foods. Foods that are extremely sour or rich in sugar naturally increase your body’s saliva production, and the same is true of sour or sweet drinks. Citrus fruits, such as lemons, limes, and grapefruits, are particularly poor choices until your hypersalivation subsides.

See Your Dentist

Yes, hypersalivation is often one of those things you just have to live with for a couple of weeks. After your mouth has grown used to having dentures, saliva production should level off. However, that doesn’t always happen. If your dentures are the wrong shape or size, they can sit improperly, perhaps even pressing against a salivary gland. This is why people who need their dentures relined or replaced often start experiencing hypersalivation. Visit your dentist so they can check the fit.