We’ve probably all experienced a dry mouth at one point or another, thanks to dehydration. But what you may not know is that there’s a different type of dry mouth - chronic dry mouth - that can be much more difficult to get rid of than by simply drinking water. For this type of dry mouth, there can be many causes that you may not even realize are there.

Dry mouth is more than just an uncomfortable inconvenience. It can cause cavities because the lack of saliva in your mouth means you aren’t washing away harmful plaque bacteria in your mouth. If you’re wondering why your mouth is always dry, here are just a few surprise causes of dry mouth, and what you can do to fix it.