Common Causes for a Metallic Taste in Your Mouth
You could develop a metallic taste at the beginning of your pregnancy. It should be temporary and go away on its own.
Metallic Taste in Your Mouth: Common Causes
There are lots of reasons you may have a lingering metallic taste in your mouth, from medication to poor tooth brushing habits. Once you figure out why it’s happening, there are often easy steps you can take to get rid of the problem.
Oral Health
You might need to step up your dental hygiene. Brush and floss regularly to avoid problems with your teeth and gums, like gingivitis, periodontitis, and tooth infections. Those conditions can all put a bad taste in your mouth.
If poor oral health is the cause, you could also have swollen, bright, or dark red gums or gums that bleed easily. You might also have bad breath.
If you have these symptoms, see your dentist for a professional cleaning and ask if you need a prescription to treat any infections.
Colds and Other Infections
Have you been feeling under the weather? Colds, sinus infections, and upper respiratory infections can change the taste in your mouth. If this is the cause, you’ll also have symptoms like a runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, and cough.
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Rest, drink plenty of fluids, and take over-the-counter pain relievers if necessary. The metallic taste should go away once you’re better.
Medication
Drugs like antibiotics can give you a metallic taste. Other possible causes in the medicine cabinet include:
- Heart medication
- Medicine for gout
- Antidepressants and lithium (used to treat some mental health conditions)
If the metallic taste bothers you, talk to your doctor, but don’t stop taking your medication without their approval.
Vitamins
Your prenatal vitamins, iron, or calcium supplements could be the cause. Multivitamins with copper, zinc, or chromium can leave a metallic flavor. So can cold lozenges that are made with zinc.
The good news: The metallic taste should go away soon after you take the pills.
Indigestion
Heartburn, acid reflux, and indigestion could be responsible for a metallic taste. Other symptoms you get with these conditions are bloating and a burning feeling in your chest after eating.
To treat the underlying problem, avoid rich foods, eat dinner earlier, and take antacids.
If you keep getting indigestion, have a hard time swallowing, or are in serious pain, see your doctor. The taste in your mouth should go back to normal when your indigestion is under control.
Pregnancy
It’s not a surprise that the taste in your mouth might shift when you’re pregnant.
You could develop a metallic taste at the beginning of your pregnancy. It should be temporary and go away on its own.
Dementia
Things often taste different when you have dementia. The part of the brain that controls taste sometimes stops working well.
Cook with strong or sweet flavors, and try different types of foods and drinks to help increase your appetite.
Cancer Treatment
Bitter or metallic tastes that linger in your mouth are a common side effect of chemotherapy and radiation. It usually goes away when you finish treatment.
In the meantime, switch up your foods to help mask the problem. Add tart ingredients like lemon juice, vinegar, or pickles to your meals. Spices, herbs, and sweeteners bring strong flavor. Try eating more frozen or cold foods. Swap metal utensils for wood or plastic.
Chemical Exposure
Inhaling high levels of mercury or lead can cause a metallic taste in your mouth. It’s important to avoid or lower you and your family’s exposure to these chemicals.
Lead can be harmful to both children and adults. Children can get lead poisoning from lead-based paints or lead-contaminated dust found in older buildings. Air, water, and soil can also get contaminated with lead and be dangerous. Adults who do home renovations and/or work with batteries have a higher risk of lead poisoning.
Mercury can be brought into your home from industrial sites and broken household items, like thermometers. Both long- and short-term exposure to mercury can be harmful to your health.
Removing the source of contamination (like getting rid of the lead-based paint) is the first line of treatment. You may also need medications from doctors.
CNS Disorders
Sometimes a central nervous system (CNS) disorder can cause you to have a taste distortion or make things taste different than usual. These include conditions like Bell’s palsy, multiple sclerosis (MS), and even depression . Talk to your doctor if you have one of these conditions and are noticing a metallic taste.
Metallic Taste in Your Mouth Treatment and Prevention
There’s no one way to treat or prevent a metallic taste in your mouth. Your treatment depends on the cause. In some cases this unpleasant symptom may clear up on its own, for instance if you stop taking the vitamins or remove the source of lead you’ve been exposed to. But other times, you have to try additional methods:
- See your dentist to clear up any infections around your teeth (periodontitis) or gums.
- Brush your teeth and tongue twice per day and floss once per day for good oral hygiene. This can prevent tooth decay and mouth infections.
- Drink water and chew sugar-free gum to keep away oral infections that could cause a metallic taste in the mouth.
- Before meals, rinse your mouth with a combination of a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 1 cup of warm water.
- Try using plastic utensils and glass or ceramic cookware rather than metal ones.
- Try marinating meat in sweet fruit juices or sweet wines or cook with lots of herbs and spices.
- Some medications can give you a metallic taste in your mouth. Check with your doctor and let them know that you are experiencing this side effect. Perhaps switching to a different medication may help. Don’t stop taking prescribed medication without first talking to your doctor.
Show Sources
UK National Health Service: “Metallic Taste,” “Indigestion.”
Cleveland Clinic: “8 Possible Causes for That Metallic Taste in Your Mouth.”
Mayo Clinic: “Periodontitis,” “Gingivitis,” “Common Cold,” “Lead Poisoning: Symptoms & Causes,” “When and how often should you brush your teeth?”
Michigan Medicine Rogel Cancer Center: “Food Just Doesn’t Taste the Same.”
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: “How to Reduce Metallic Tastes During Cancer Treatment.”
Cancer Treatment Reviews: “Metallic Taste in Cancer Patients Treated With Chemotherapy.”
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center: “What Causes a Bloody or Metallic Taste in Your Mouth During Workouts?”
CDC: “Antibiotic Prescribing and Use in Doctor’s Offices.”
Alzheimer’s Society: “Poor Appetite and Dementia.”
Advances in Oto-Rhino-Laryngology: “Neurological Aspects of Taste Disorders.”
United States Environmental Protection Agency (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry): “Mercury Quick Facts, Health Effects of Mercury Exposure.”
American Dental Association: “ Xerostomia (Dry Mouth).”
Cancer.Net: “Taste Changes.”
Common Causes for a Metallic Taste in Your Mouth
Does your mouth taste like old pennies? Dysgeusia, a change in your sense of taste, can be a side effect of a variety of medical issues. And “metal mouth,” a common manifestation of dysgeusia, is more common than you might think.
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Donald Ford, MD, MBA, Chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, runs through the reasons why you might be experiencing a metallic taste in your mouth — and what to do about it.
Why does my mouth taste like metal?
A metallic taste can indicate a serious illness, such as kidney or liver problems, undiagnosed diabetes or certain cancers. But these reasons are uncommon and typically accompanied by other symptoms.
If you’re otherwise healthy, the cause for that metallic tang typically is benign. “If a metallic taste in your mouth is your only complaint, the cause might be one of several,” Dr. Ford says.
Poor oral hygiene
If you don’t brush and floss regularly, the result can be teeth and gum problems such as gingivitis, periodontitis and tooth infection. These infections can be cleared up with a prescription from your dentist.
“The metal taste typically goes away after the infection is gone,” Dr. Ford says.
Prescription drugs
“Some medications can cause a metallic taste because your body absorbs the medicine and it then comes out in the saliva,” Dr. Ford explains. These medicines include:
- Antibiotics such as clarithromycin, metronidazole and tetracycline.
- Allopurinol, a gout medicine.
- Blood pressure medications, including captopril.
- Lithium, which is used to treat certain psychiatric conditions.
- Methazolamide, used to treat glaucoma.
- Metformin, a diabetes medication.
Medicines that can cause a dry mouth, such as antidepressants, can also be a culprit of metallic taste because they close your taste buds, which can in turn impact your sense of taste.
Over-the-counter vitamins or medicines
Multivitamins with heavy metals (such as chromium, copper and zinc) or cold remedies (such as zinc lozenges) can cause a metallic taste. So can prenatal vitamins and iron or calcium supplements.
Usually, the taste will go away as your body processes the vitamins or medicine. “If not, check your dosage and make sure you’re not taking too much,” Dr. Ford advises.
Infections
Some temporary illnesses can change your sense of taste, which may leave you tasting metal:
- Colds.
- Sinusitis.
- Upper respiratory infections.
The taste usually goes away when the infection does, so take it easy and get well soon.
Cancer treatment
Patients being treated with chemotherapy or radiation — especially for cancers of the head and neck — may experience a range of changes in taste and smell, including a metallic taste sometimes referred to as “chemo mouth.”
Studies show that zinc and vitamin D may help combat it, though research is ongoing.
Pregnancy
Blame it on hormones: Dysgeusia is especially common during pregnancy. For some expectant mothers, that means cravings for pickles and ice cream, while for others, it could mean an inexplicable metallic or sour taste.
There’s hope, though. “Typically, dysgeusia is at its worst in the first trimester,” Dr. Ford says, “so as your pregnancy progresses, the metallic taste should fade.”
Dementia
Everyone’s taste buds diminish with age, but for people with dementia, those changes may be expedited as a result of changes in the brain. Sometimes food starts tasting different than it used to, which doctors call “taste abnormalities.”
“The taste buds are connected by nerves to the brain, and taste abnormalities can occur when the portion of the brain related to taste is not working properly,” Dr. Ford explains.
Allergies
A metallic taste in your mouth can be a side effect of food allergies, especially to such as shellfish or tree nuts. It’s an early sign of anaphylaxis, which can be deadly. If you have (or suspect you have) such an allergy, speak with your doctor about what to do in case of an allergic reaction — before it strikes.
Chemical exposures
Inhaling high levels of certain substances can result in a metallic taste.
- Insecticides: A metallic taste in your mouth could be a sign of certain types of pesticide poisoning.
- Lead: Most often found in lead-based paint, paint dust and soil contaminated by peeling paint, this chemical element has a number of other sources, too, including water, pottery and some cosmetics.
- Mercury: Typically associated with fish and other seafood, this toxic metal can also be found on construction sites and in old thermometers.
“These chemicals can cause significant health concerns, so if you’ve had exposure to them, you’ll want to see a doctor immediately,” Dr. Ford says. “The metallic taste in your mouth should go away once the underlying condition has been treated.”
Metallic taste and COVID-19
Doctors have long known that a loss of taste and smell are a possible side effect of COVID-19 — but some people have also reported a metallic taste.
“Typically, metal mouth resolves itself once the underlying cause has been treated, but a COVID-19-induced metallic taste in the mouth could stick around for weeks or even months after your recovery from the virus,” Dr. Ford says.
Tips to Prevent Metallic Taste
Dr. Ford recommends steps you can take on your own to minimize metal mouth.
- Maintain good oral hygiene, including regular brushing, flossing and tongue-scraping, to keep your mouth healthy.
- Stay hydrated to prevent dry mouth, which can cause a metallic taste.
- Swap out metal cutlery and water bottles, which can make metallic tastes worse. Try glass, plastic or ceramic versions instead.
- Rinse your mouth before you eat, using a solution of baking soda and warm water. It can regulate the pH balance of your mouth and help to neutralize acid — including that gross metallic taste.
- Quit smoking, as cigarettes may exacerbate the taste of metal (among other negative impacts on your health).
- Suck on ice, whether it’s cubes, chips and unsweetened ice pops.
- Pop a mint or a piece of gum — just be sure to go sugar-free!
- Eat foods that can mask the taste of metal.
- Citrus fruits, especially lemon and lime juices.
- Sour foods, like pickles and other vinegar-based items.
- Sweeteners, such as maple syrup (which should be used in small amounts).
Whatever you do, though, don’t neglect the root of the issue.
“If you have a persistent funny taste in your mouth, don’t just try to mask the symptoms,” Dr. Ford urges. “Talk with your doctor, who can determine if you have a serious illness or condition and help you take steps to address the underlying caused.”
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