While my dry mouth has improved considerably since the treatment days. my saliva glands are burnt toast (actually rock hard nodes)
I never found the Biotene gel or gum much help and still had to get up several times a night to swish water.(drinking it or sipping it from bedside was out as it triggered coughing and woke the wife) So I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Biotene "Moisturizing Mouth spray" actually works for me. I keep it on the nightstand so when I can just shake and spray at 1 am At $5 a bottle at Wal-Mart it is worth trying once. Also when I need to go without drinking for a period (the Washington DC metro subway system prohibits drinking even water and has hefty fines), it extends the time I am comfortable and its small and compact. Hope others may find it helpful also.

Charm,

Don't give up on something that may not work for you today or yesterday. Retry things every few months. I am almost 2 years post Tx and just about everything tastes the same as it did pre Tx but it's a constant work in progress. I had a BIG improvement in saliva and taste 16 months post Tx.

I will buy some Biotene Throat Spray the next time I'm in WalMart. Thanks for the post about it.

My daughter's salivaries where destroyed through the radiation and the ONLY thing that worked for her was Stoppers 4 Dry Mouth (Walgreens). I bought her everything out there - Biotene spray, Biotene gel, Aqua something - she didn't like any of it except the Stoppers 4 Dry Mouth.
Bonnie

If she likes that, save some $ and just buy USP Glycerin and add it to water, because that's all it is. ( I did this before I found Biotene, which in my experience of using it everyday is way better) Add a couple drop of mint flavor if that is important to her and you have spent pennies for the same thing. The label says it has some enzymes in it, but laboratory testing (by Laclede who have a patent on adding enzymes to oral care products) shows the levels to be so low as to be inconsequential to oral health. The enzymes are what are so expensive in the Biotene products. But for each person it is what relieves the dryness.

David is right, the oral environment is constantly changing and what works today (or not) will be different in a month or two. Keep trying to find things that work. Experimentation in this and in what you can eat and drink yields a workable life down the road.

How much Glycerin to how much water? Recipe please. Sounds perfect for my Z. He teaches philosophy, five classes of yacking a day!

thalia

While Brian will have the answer on glycerin/water ratio, since my post I have also found a somewhat less expensive method that I use during the day, keeping the Biotene spray for night. It's not original, it came from posters here: buy the Biotene mouthwash big size and pour some into a teeny little plastic spray bottle (we bought them at rite-aid for buck). It wets the mout and provides some enzymes. It does not last as long nor give the complete relief that the packaged spray does, but it is easy and cheaper.
Funny, just last week my protodontist was telling me I could save money by concocting glycerin and water spray but added that his patients found it hard to get glycerin off the regular drugstore shelf (only available in suppository form). Brian probably knows where to shop also.

Good luck to Z

The more glycerine the more it feels slippery and the longer it stays that way. It also tastes progressively weirder. So this is an individual try and experiment kind of thing. You can ask the pharmacy for this at most of them, but I find it on the shelf at Walgreen's, CVS and others, (way cheap) though I am hooked on Biotene and don't do things this way anymore. Just remember the battle is more than the sensation of wetness, it is about protecting yourself from periodontal disease and caries. These two things become a big issue after treatments as dry mouth and radiation make both of them worse.

Hi folks,

Glad I tripped into this chat. My husband has been using the glycerin dry mouth spray since his tongue started really drying out on him. but it has been progressivly getting less and less useful especially at night. I'm going to go get him some biotene spray first thing tomorrow and also check on the glycerine % in his spray vs the others out there. Good luck to all of you with this.
~Ija~

Try him on the oral balance GEL from Biotene at night - it is thick and stays on the soft tissues longer than their spray or liquid.

Brian,

Thank you! I've got it written down and will be off to the store shortly. If this will help just a little it will make such a big difference for him.
I'd also like to thank you for being so wonderful and sharing your experience and knowledge with all of us. All of your advice and information is so right on. You are an amazing person and I feel so blessed to have been lucky enough to have found you and OFC. Thanks again Brian. Your an angel.
Sincerly, ~Ija~

I found it interesting I went to a pharmacy and asked for biotene spray cause I found when I went out walking just water wasn't cutting it my mouth got so dry anyway he didn't even know what I was talking about. Yet I went to my normal pharmacy and she knew exactly what I wanted. This other glycerin and water now I will have to check that out cause the spray was expensive. I also asked the first pharmacist about difference biotine mouth wash and other mouth wash and he was speechless as well...

Brian,
OK, I found the gel you recommended. Now could you advise how best to apply it. Hubby tried to smooth it over his tongue with a small spoon. that didn't work well at all. His tongue ended up on fire. If he just tries to squirt it in his mouth it's just a glob that sits there and won't spread out or coat his tongue. ????
~Ija~

I just squeeze some out of the tube onto my tongue - and then I rub my tongue all over the soft tissues inside my mouth. Everything gets coated. When I wake in the night, or have had enough drinks during the night for it to all be gone, I just reapply the same way. I guess you guys never ate cheeze wiz out of the can!!!! (It's a bachelor thing.) I use the liquid during the day.

Brian,

heh,heh...Cheeze wiz! rofl. we'll give your way a try. Will be challenging for him considering he has a very short tongue now. He can't even touch his tongue to the teeth in the back of his mouth any more. Not sure if he can reach his cheeks or not?
~Ija~

I guess I bettertry the Gel. It seems the biotene spray has lost it's effectivness and only lastsfor a minute or 2. The green bottle of biotene mouth wash is still doing it's job. Dianne, I think the difference in the 2 colors ofthe bottles is just the 75 cents LOL Gotta pay for that little bit of gold color they use.

Well go figure who would have thought color costs...it is good to have a pharmacist you can trust for sure...mine tonight I talked to her about Biotene mouth wash and cheaper ones that have anti bacterial and no alcohol...and she stood by biotene saying in my position it was better to be safe and use what she considered to be the best...there are other makes a couple of dollars cheaper but she still suggested spending the little extra for it...

The green bottle has a protein in it that really cuts into bio films, which are necessary for plaque and calculus to form. I use it regularly along with the matching PBF toothpaste, especially at night. The blue bottle is the original formula, and it does not have this proprietary protein in it, but it seems to make my mouth feel slippery and all a lot longer. I use it a couple times during the day. Prevident 5000 Rx fluoride toothpaste right before bed each night, to try and protect things as much as I can. I use my trays about once a week.

I brush my teeth about 5 times a day w/ Biotene and use the trays at night for 30 mins. I also chew the Biotene gum just about nonstop throughout my waking hours. This works for me.

Wow I am glad all I have to worry about is gums cause have no teeth...I can immagine that would take a lot of work....I am just concerned with infection of my gums after my surgery...I am wondering once it is healed if I will still need the mouthwash

Welcome to our world huh Dianne. WE don't have to brush teeth , just where they used to be when we could eat FOOD< STEAKS<CHOPS< I gotta quit that LOL making me hungry. I did make a meatloaf to put in the oven for supper tomorrw for when I get back from the CtScan. We have to exchange recipes Dianne.

sounds like a plan...

Spry Rain mouth spray is excellent, along with their Spry mints and chewing gum. I did not care for Oasis or Biotene, but the Spry products work well for me.