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Mouth Diseases

Salty taste in mouth

02/11/2009

Question:

for about 7 days have very salty taste .........i am on no meds. i drink 3 glasses of milk a day & 4 glasses of water per day.....i do have a loose upper bridge due to a very loose tooth that is holding the bridge on one side.......is this a serious problem.? help.

Answer:

You should see a dentist to make sure that an infected tooth or gum problem isn't draining into the mouth. Either of those can cause a salty taste, and treatment would result in resolution of the salty taste.

If your teeth and gums are healthy, then this could be a common sensory neuropathy (abnormal nerve sensation) called burning mouth syndrome (BMS), which in your case seems to have a predominant "taste phantom" (sensation of salty taste) component. This is an annoying problem, but not serious. You can find more information about BMS at the link below.

Related Resources:

Burning Mouth Syndrome

For more information:

Go to the Mouth Diseases health topic, where you can:

Response by:

Carl M Allen, DDS, MSD Carl M Allen, DDS, MSD
Professor of Oral Pathology
College of Dentistry
The Ohio State University