Mild dehydration: a risk factor for dental disease?

A review of the published international literature was undertaken to investigate whether dehydration is a risk factor for dental disease. Published evidence of associations between saliva and dental disease and between saliva and dehydration was observed, but the precise nature of these associations is unclear and no evidence of a direct link between dehydration and dental disease was found. It is concluded that no direct link between dehydration and dental disease has been proven, although there is considerable circumstantial evidence to indicate that such a link exists.