[quote=ChristineB]Jojo, welcome to OCF. Most new members will start a post about themselves under the heading 'introduce yourself'. Its best to always start a new thread so that your post (just like the original post here) gets the attention it deserves.
You can rinse your mouth several times per day using 16 oz of warm water, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp salt. Use a humidifier at night. Biotene makes several dry mouth products that can help. Some will coat your mouth. It will get better in time.
To avoid losing your ability to swallow, you should be taking tiny sips of water. If you have had some type of surgery or procedure that affects the swallowing muscles then you will need to have a swallow test done by a physcial therapist. Drinking water if you have trouble could lead to aspiration, where the water gets into your lungs instead of going into your stomach. Always ask your doc about things like this before attempting it.
Hope you take a couple minutes to write an introductory post so its easier to answer your questions.
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