Is drooling by the mouth part of having dementia?

Sorry I don't have a answer...but I am experiencing the same thing with my mom who has dementia. She doesn't know to use tissue/Kleenex so she basically uses her hand even if I give it to her she will not use it. She loves chewing gum so that helps alot.

As far as the drooling goes, yes it can be a symptom of different kinds of dementia. MIL drools constantly. It isn't phlegm, although sometimes she does have drainage and will hack that up as well. But the drooling just never ends and the fact that she leans over almost at a right angle, just means that the floor and worse, the carpet, gets a good bit of it as she walks. We have boxes of Kleenex in every room so that she's always got it handy.

It's another symptom of Dementia my dad started doing this a few months ago they let him leave the hospital because he did not want a feeding tube put in so they call it pleasure eating /High Risk Asperation when they no longer can swallow food because it goes into the wind pipe into the lungs and can choke and hold up bacteria in lungs leading to pneumonia The best way to let them still eat is to puree everything and hope it goes to stomach mostly thin liquids make them gag coughs use thickener sold at Walgreens s or drugmart will thicken everything including soups has no taste but it makes it easier and safer my dad is a leading to eat and not starve

She should have an exam by an ENT specialist and then a swallow test.

Drooling can be something going with a lung or esophagus; my husband was dribbling back after trying to eat, and it turned out to be a lung tumor that was blocking the swallowing. I would find overflow on his pillow in the morning. HIs mind was clear until the very last few days.

My mom (age 95 and blind due to an accident at age 79), was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I live out of state and don't get up to visit her often. But last October, I noticed she was drooling occasionally, but didn't think much about it. Then at Christmas, I noticed short term memory deficits and some strange responses, but she was then diagnosed as having a severe hearing loss and was prescribed binaural aids (which she didn't get). Our family blamed her "oddness" due to the hearing loss and blindness. Sometime thereafter, she began falling, fell out of bed, was in and out of the hospital for uncontrolled diabetes, and was finally placed in an assisted living residence. In April, I observed significant deficits in cognitive functioning. Shortly thereafter, she was transferred to a long term "dementia" ward because of aggressive behaviors which the staff couldn't handle. I just returned from visiting her for 8 days. I went with my Dad (almost 96) everyday from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. to see her and couldn't believe the change. She cannot walk, feed or dress herself. She is beginning to choke on a pureed diet, and I think she recognized me maybe twice. This is a horrible disease which gradually steals our loved ones from us. God bless the caregivers!

Actually, for people with swallowing difficulties it is often easier to swallow thickened liquids than to handle thin liquids. Many tend to aspirate the thinner substances. We often use applesauce, or pudding to give medications at the hospital. Otherwise there is a product called "Thick-It" available to thicken up liquids for them, when they wanted to "drink" coffee or juice, etc.

Swallowing is a function of the muscles which are directly controlled by the brain. As her disease progresses she will lose more and more bodily functions, and drooling can be part of the process. Do not use too many pillows as her back will not be in alignment. Just wipe her mouth and switch from using applesauce which is really thick to something liquid. Best wishes!

Please make an appointment with a dentist and a speech pathologist. My dad has Alzheimer's and the doctor's brushed it off to his disease. I took him to a variety of doctor's who found nothing. The speech pathologist finally recognized his tongue was "frozen" and it turned out he had a tumor on the back of his tongue. He never complained of pain and said nothing in his mouth hurt. I don't think he could recognize it. Best of luck -- always good to rule out other possible causes.

Havn't experienced this in my situation but I do know that it happens sometimes. Would it be possible to get a swallowing evaluation by a speech pathologist or an ENT? Might help to rule out any other possibilities or influencing factors. The cause will likely be dementia but it might bring peace to make sure there isn't another underlying cause. I'm sorry you're going through this. Best of luck on your journey.

Short answer is yes. My husband began spitting more than a year ago. Whenever he recognized some fuid in his mouth he spa it out, initially into a hankerchif we stashed in his breat pocket, but evetually he spat everywhere and anywhere.
He expereinced someting aien to him and needed to get rid of it.

That is not unusual in some kinds of dementia. I bought facial tissue by the case. My husband's drooling started early in the disease and got much worse at the end. The Hospice nurse brought in a patch to place behind his ear and that I changed daily. It helped A LOT. I think it was a "sea sick" patch that travelers use, and it dries the mouth. You might ask her doctor if it would be OK to try that with Mom.