Thank you all for the suggestions! I have been using baking soda/water-- I'll have to try adding salt.

My magic mouthwash is a mixture of lidocaine, benadryl,and maalox. It did seem to help a little as far as the swallowing today, but only lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. I'm only supposed to use it every six hours, so trying to stay hydrated is a challenge. I have to work up the courage to take just a swallow of water,and then it takes me five minutes to recover! On top of that, the benadryl makes my mouth even more dry than it already was, so I feel like I am darned if I do and darned if I don't. I'm starting to think I may need to go ahead and get some kind of pain medicine other than the tylenol/ibuprofen I am already using. I'll have to look for those mouth lozenges also!

Thanks again!