Dry mouth while sleeping can be caused by several factors, including:

• Mouth breathing: Breathing through your mouth instead of your nose as you sleep can cause dry mouth at night. This can result from blocked nasal passages and is associated with sleep-disordered breathing.

• Medications: Antihistamines, muscle relaxants, and decongestants can cause dry mouth. Other medications that can cause dry mouth include those used to treat depression, anxiety, and high blood pressure.

• Dehydration: If you find yourself waking up thirsty during the night or experiencing dry mouth when you wake up, you might be dehydrated. Dehydration occurs when you consume less water than your body expels, whether through urine, sweat, or other means.

• Aging: Research shows that about 1 in 5 older adults wake up with dry mouth. Other factors can include prescription drugs, lack of a good nutritional diet, and other age-related health problems.

• Sleep apnea: This is a sleep disorder that affects your ability to breathe the right way when you’re asleep. When you don’t breathe well during sleep, it’s much harder to get deep, restful sleep. You may breathe from your mouth or snore loudly. Both can lead to waking up with a dry mouth.

• Chemotherapy and radiation treatment: These treatments can cause dry mouth by damaging the salivary glands.

To prevent dry mouth while sleeping, you can try the following remedies:

• Drink plenty of water throughout the day and keep a glass of water next to your bed at night.
• Use a humidifier at night to keep your bedroom air from becoming too dry.
• Chew sugar-free gum or use a non-alcoholic mouthwash to stimulate saliva production before bed.
• Cut back on caffeine, soft drink, alcohol, and smoking.
• Talk to your doctor about alternative treatment options if you think your CPAP machine is causing you to wake up with dry mouth.

If you experience frequent dry mouth, its best to talk to your dentist or healthcare professional about how to manage it. Saliva helps prevent tooth decay, washes away bacteria and food, and assists in swallowing, so addressing this issue could improve your sleep and oral health.