5 possible reasons behind the salty taste in your mouth
It is common to have a salty taste in the mouth for a few minutes after eating processed potato chips. You might feel such salty taste in your mouth after having various snacks.
Do you notice such salty taste even though you do not snack? If you sense it frequently, this blog post is for you. It might be an indication of abnormal happenings that take place inside your body.
Keep reading to know the possible causes of salty taste inside your mouth.
What makes your mouth taste salty?
Taste disorder is a common side effect of diabetes. Diabetic patients often encounter a metallic, bitter or sour taste in their mouths due to oral thrush, which occurs when saliva contains too much sugar. Similarly, some oral complications and health ailments cause a salty mouth. They are listed as follows:
1) Dehydration
Dehydration occurs when your body loses fluids more than you intake. In such cases, there will be an electrolytic imbalance in the body. Consequently, it upsets the level of water and salt in the body, making salty compounds prevalent in saliva.
Moreover, the quality of saliva also changes when a body loses fluids excessively due to sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, or other reasons. It also makes the person sense a strange taste like salty in the mouth.
If hydration continues, it will cause serious illnesses like seizures, kidney problems, etc. Hence doctors advise everyone to drink at least 5 to 8 tumblers of water daily.
2) Dry Mouth
Dry mouth is also a consequence of dehydration, whilst it occurs when the salivary glands do not produce enough saliva. When dry mouth happens, there will be less salivary flow inside the mouth. In such cases, saliva appears sticky and tastes bitter or salty.
Consuming a lot of water is the best way to combat dryness in your mouth. In case if it happens due to bad habits like smoking, you should stop doing that.
3) Post-nasal drip
If you sense a salty taste in your mouth during the cold season, post-nasal drip might be the reason. When you have a cold, the lower airways produce thick mucus excessively. It happens for those suffering from sinus infections and certain allergic conditions.
When overproduction of mucus occurs, the slimy substance will drip at the back of the throat and gets mixed with saliva. It gives a salty taste in the mouth.
4) Acid Reflux Disease
Acid reflux, also known as Gastroesophageal reflux, occurs when stomach acids travel backward from the stomach to the throat. It occurs when the sphincter muscle (valve at the end of the esophagus) does not close properly or relax at the wrong time. Overconsumption of highly acidic, fatty foods will lead to this problem.
Whenever the acidic contents from the stomach flow up, it provokes difficulties like pain in the abdomen, burning sensation in the chest, etc. Likely, it alters the sufferers’ ability to taste by making their mouths salty.
5) Oral Cavity Bleeding
If any of the factors mentioned above are not the triggers, bleeding in the mouth will cause a salty taste. It happens when the sharp edges of snacks like chips injure the oral tissues, followed by bleeding. Likely, vigorous brushing and flossing also injure the gum tissues and make the tissues bleed.
Besides crunchy chips and improper brushing techniques, oral cavity infections like gum infections also make your gums bleed.
You will sense a salty taste when salty-tasting blood drops are introduced into the mouth.
Other reasons
Similar to acid reflux disease, certain problematic health conditions are linked to a salty taste in your mouth. The crucial ones to highlight are listed below:
- Nutritional deficiency
- Hormonal imbalances
- Autoimmune Conditions (Ex: Sjögren Syndrome)
- Neurological conditions
- Medicinal side effects
The strange sensation of salty taste in the mouth without eating anything salty might be a warning sign of any oral disease or bodily disorders. Hence we advise you to visit your dentist if your mouth tastes salty for a long time.
Even though it is not a medical emergency, you should not ignore this.
