Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners
Excessive drooling in 4 year old
My 4-year-old son has been excessively drooling non-stop since he was 2. He had all his teeth by 18 months, and drooling has worsened since then. He needs to wear a bib, but due to his age I don’t use one.
He has been seen by an ENT for extremely large tonsils and seemingly large adenoids. He had a sleep study done but no sleep apnoea was found.
He has been to see a speech therapist, he has a hyponasal voice with limited nasal air intake and issues with speech clarity due to excessive saliva. He cannot breathe through his nose and swallow at the same time. Also, the drooling is not an awareness issue, he tries to suck the saliva in but with his mouth remaining open and regularly wipes his chin. He always breathes through an open mouth.
I feel that having his adenoids removed would greatly improve his quality of life, especially as he gets to school age. I have confirmed with many teachers that drooling at this age is not at all common.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Is surgery is warranted?
