Getting the Dryness Out of Dry Mouth

Episode #303 with Dr. John Cranham & Dr. Thomas Eschenroeder

Chronic dry mouth doesn’t just affect the aging population. It can be a result of genetics, various medical conditions, or prescription medications, and can negatively affect a person’s quality of life. So, today, Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. John Cranham and Dr. Thomas Eschenroeder to introduce Voutia, a new oral hydration device that provides continuous relief for people with chronic dry mouth. You don't have to suffer with xerostomia! Listen to Episode 303 of The Best Practices Show and find out if Voutia is for you!

Main Takeaways:

Dry mouth is a bigger problem than the dental/medical community is willing to admit.

It’s not just head and neck cancer that affects saliva — other cancers and medications can too.

Dry mouth can affect how a person talks, swallows, sleeps, and even what they eat.  

Voutia is a new oral hydration device that can be used during the day or night.

Once you start using Voutia, your salivary flow will feel like normal again.

Quotes:

“I've restored thousands of mouths, and there's just nothing worse than having perfect margins and control over everything, and then something that is totally out of our control starts to rob the person of their saliva, and then they just start getting caries everywhere.” (06:53—07:09)

“One of the things, to me, that was the most moving was the fact that when you have dry mouth, you basically lose the ability to have a normal feeling mucosa. Your mucosa basically turns like leather. And so, what happens is, once you start using this device . . . your mucosa feels normal again.” (13:23—13:50)

“The other thing that happens is, people with dry mouth are constantly sipping water. And the problem with that is they feel bloated. And the water goes through their mouth so quickly that they can't really hydrate their mouth with it very well. And because of that, it’s never satisfied. So, by wearing this device, they actually feel like they have normal salivary flow again.” (13:53—14:16)

“The other thing that makes it so complicated is, as we have this population in our practice that's getting older, particularly if you've done work on them and you're trying to maintain it, the very best-case scenario is that it holds up occlusally and it holds up biologically, and then they go off into the sunset. But when you start having increased medications, that usually means they're not as healthy. So, it’s harder and more dangerous to do procedures on them.” (15:29—16:03)

“Nothing’s more scary when somebody walks in and you've got to go take a tooth out, or put an implant in, or do something like that on somebody that pulls out their medication list and it rolls across the table. And we’re seeing that more and more. So, anything that I can do in my practice to keep my dentistry lasting for as long as the patient does and minimizing the amount of work that I've got to do so if something does fail and it is a margin or something, maybe we can go in there and clean that margin out and put something in there without having to lose the tooth or take everything off.” (16:05—16:45)

“[Voutia’s cannula] is almost like a human hair, practically, in terms of how thin it is. So, again, a very elegant way to solve a problem that’s larger than, I think, the dental community really wants to maybe admit.” (18:26—18:44)

“Everybody’s familiar with lozenges, gums, rinses, artificial saliva, sprays, and whatnot that you can use. But the problem is, these things are limited to the fact that you can use them when you're awake. And you also have to keep in mind the fact that it’s a continuum. Certain people have a little bit of salivary function, certain people have none. And if you stick a piece of gum in...