Xerostomia is the clinical word for a mouth that feels persistently dry.

In kid words

Xerostomia is just a big word for a mouth that feels dry, kind of like how your mouth feels first thing when you wake up thirsty.

Lots of people feel this once in a while, grown-ups included, and a few sips of water usually helps it feel normal again.

The parent version

Xerostomia is the clinical term for a dry mouth, when there is not quite enough saliva to keep things comfortably moist. In children, the everyday causes tend to be simple ones: breathing through the mouth instead of the nose, especially overnight or during a stuffy-nose stretch, and simply not drinking enough water over the course of a day.

Saliva does quiet, constant work in a healthy mouth, rinsing away leftover food and helping balance the acid plaque produces, so a mouth that runs dry for a while loses some of that natural rinse. A dry mouth that lingers, or keeps coming back, is worth mentioning at a checkup rather than puzzling over at home. Ask your pediatric dentist what might be behind it for your child.

Where you might hear it at our office

This word is unlikely to come up on its own, but it is an easy detail to mention whenever you are already in for a cleaning and exam, alongside anything else on your mind that day. Your pediatric dentist can look it over and explain what a persistently dry mouth might mean for your own child.

If another word from today's visit could use a plain explanation, browse the rest of the dictionary.

Related words

Saliva. Halitosis. Enamel.