Why does drooling occur when sleeping on your side?

Sleep is the most important activity for people and it must be done every day because sleep allows the body to get timely rest. Otherwise, the body will be under greater pressure and various symptoms will occur, which is very detrimental to long-term health. People will also have various problems during sleep. For example, drooling is a symptom that many people have experienced. Let’s take a look at why drooling occurs when sleeping on the side.

Some people drool while sleeping at night. The normal person secretes 1000~1500 ml of saliva per day. Even in the absence of food stimulation, 0.5 ml of saliva can be secreted per minute. Therefore, when people sleep, a small amount of saliva is still secreted continuously to lubricate the oral mucosa and protect the teeth. Under special circumstances, such as dreaming about delicious food, it will stimulate saliva secretion, and increased saliva secretion will lead to drooling; improper sleeping posture can sometimes also cause drooling.

Drooling while sleeping is generally caused by the following factors:

1. Poor oral hygiene: The temperature and humidity in the mouth are most suitable for the reproduction of bacteria. The accumulation of food residues or sugar substances in the gaps between teeth and on the tooth surfaces can easily lead to caries and periodontal disease. These adverse factors are stimulating and can cause drooling while sleeping.

2. Malformation of front teeth: This may be due to genetic factors and acquired bad habits, such as biting nails, sticking out tongue, biting pencil heads, etc., which cause deformity of front teeth and drooling while sleeping.

3. Neuroregulatory disorders: The regulation of saliva secretion is completely neuroreflexive. The so-called "seeing the plum to quench thirst" is an example of conditioned reflex saliva secretion in daily life. Therefore, disorders in neural regulation may also cause drooling while sleeping. If you drool while sleeping, the drool tastes salty, and your pillowcase is light yellow, it is most likely due to poor oral hygiene, accumulation of food residues, and excessive tartar over time, which can cause gingivitis and even a small amount of bleeding gums. Therefore, the saliva that flows out while sleeping tastes salty and is light yellow in color. The method of prevention and treatment is: first of all, pay attention to oral hygiene,