Our mouths are kept moist by saliva. This is produced by the salivary glands which are situated around the lining of the mouth and throat. Saliva helps prevent infection in the mouth as well as moistening food, making it easier to chew and swallow. A lack of saliva can also change the taste of some foods and may lead to some loss of taste.

Radiotherapy treatment covering the mouth area may affect the salivary glands so that less saliva is produced, this may be more likely if chemotherapy is given as well. The glands will usually recover although this may take six months or more but occasionally (particularly with high doses of radiotherapy) the dry mouth may be permanent.

In coping with a dry mouth after treatment there are things that your doctor can do and things that you can do for yourself. Your doctor may prescribe tablets or medicines. Drugs like pilocarpine, given as mouth drops three times day, can stimulate the glands to produce saliva. Anetholetrithione is another drug that stimulates saliva formation, it is given in tablet form and can be combined with pilocarpine. If treatment has severely damaged the salivary glands then these agents may not help.

There are various types of artificial saliva products that can be prescribed. These only work for a short time so are best taken just before meals. They come in different forms as gels, sprays, pastilles or lozenges. Products include Saliva Orthana, Luborant and Salivix. To help yourself, keeping good oral hygiene is important so cleaning your teeth regularly after every meal and using a mouthwash regularly will help. Suitable mouthwashes include chlorhexidine (Corsodyl or Peridex). Some 'over the counter' mouthwashes contain alcohol among their ingredients and these should be avoided as they might increase any dryness. Using sugar free chewing gum or sucking sugar free sweets can produce some saliva.

Other things that people have found helpful for this include pineapple chunks, ice cubes, frozen tonic water, yoghurt and buttermilk so they are worth a try. Taking regular sips of water, or sugar free fizzy drinks, can help keep your mouth moist during the day. Some people find that rinsing the mouth with a little vegetable oil (about a teaspoonful) or melted butter, at bedtime, can help with dryness through the night.

Also avoid smoking and alcohol as much as possible as these tend to dry the mouth. And when eating take plenty of fluid with your food, try and include sauces or gravies with your meals and use puddings with a high fluid content such as jelly, pureed fruit or ice cream. Avoid dry and 'thick' foods such as biscuits, crackers and dry snacks.