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Tooter Tutor · 02-25-2007, 12:00 AM

Here are some things to think about regarding dry mouth at your recent auditions:

Were you taking any medications that you hadn't taken before? It could have been related to the medications that inhibit the secretion of saliva.

Dry mouth can also be part of the normal aging process and so your salivary glands may just be secreting less saliva than when you auditioned at a younger age.

Were you properly hydrated going into the audition or were you dehydrated? We secrete between roughly three-fourths to one liter of saliva a day. Considering that it is 98% water, it makes sense to stay hydrated just to help the body replenish what we secrete in saliva.

Here's where my advice may be counter-intuitive, and may stimulate more discussion among trumpet players. I don't recommend drinking water for trumpet players to cure dry mouth in performance situations. Here's some reasons.

1. The mouth is amazingly self-regulating and saliva plays the big role in that regulation. Even though it is mostly water, saliva also contains many enzymes, mucus and electolytes. Every time we drink we disturb the oral environment by washing all of that away and the salivary glands have to start from scratch, so to speak, in order to re-create the the proper balance of pH and mucus lining on the tissues. We're not doing it any favors particularly in the scant minutes just prior to beginning an audition.

2. Many times the water is cold, or at best, room temperature, which is still many degress less than the temperature inside of the mouth. That introduces yet another variable that the body has to deal with in order to return to its, "normal" condition. Again, I think that is asking too much of the body just before a performance or an audition!

3. Drinking water within one half hour is not really contributing to the overall state of hydration so my thought is that musicians- particularly vocalists- do it more for psychological reasons than anything.

My recommendation is to either to substitute the saliva with something that will line the walls of the mouth, or stimulate the salivary glands. If you anticipate this may crop up again, try small sips of something with citrus. Chewing or the action of chewing will also stimulate the glands.

Additionally, you can work on the associative nervousness at another time which may help alleviate this condition.

Wow, much longer than I thought, hope this helps.

Greggie

02-25-2007, 12:00 AM	#3 (permalink)
Tooter Tutor New Friend Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Hudsonville, Michigan Posts: 25	Re: Audition Nerves Here are some things to think about regarding dry mouth at your recent auditions: Were you taking any medications that you hadn't taken before? It could have been related to the medications that inhibit the secretion of saliva. Dry mouth can also be part of the normal aging process and so your salivary glands may just be secreting less saliva than when you auditioned at a younger age. Were you properly hydrated going into the audition or were you dehydrated? We secrete between roughly three-fourths to one liter of saliva a day. Considering that it is 98% water, it makes sense to stay hydrated just to help the body replenish what we secrete in saliva. Here's where my advice may be counter-intuitive, and may stimulate more discussion among trumpet players. I don't recommend drinking water for trumpet players to cure dry mouth in performance situations. Here's some reasons. 1. The mouth is amazingly self-regulating and saliva plays the big role in that regulation. Even though it is mostly water, saliva also contains many enzymes, mucus and electolytes. Every time we drink we disturb the oral environment by washing all of that away and the salivary glands have to start from scratch, so to speak, in order to re-create the the proper balance of pH and mucus lining on the tissues. We're not doing it any favors particularly in the scant minutes just prior to beginning an audition. 2. Many times the water is cold, or at best, room temperature, which is still many degress less than the temperature inside of the mouth. That introduces yet another variable that the body has to deal with in order to return to its, "normal" condition. Again, I think that is asking too much of the body just before a performance or an audition! 3. Drinking water within one half hour is not really contributing to the overall state of hydration so my thought is that musicians- particularly vocalists- do it more for psychological reasons than anything. My recommendation is to either to substitute the saliva with something that will line the walls of the mouth, or stimulate the salivary glands. If you anticipate this may crop up again, try small sips of something with citrus. Chewing or the action of chewing will also stimulate the glands. Additionally, you can work on the associative nervousness at another time which may help alleviate this condition. Wow, much longer than I thought, hope this helps. Greggie __________________ Gregory Alley, the Tooter Tutor www.tootertutor.com "...heaven is eating pate de foie gras to the sound of trumpets." Revd. Sydney Smith (1771-1845)