Interesting. I was taping up my mouth closed also with micropore medical tape until a Nurse Practional said "don't do that." So I stopped.
However ever since I no longer sleep on my back and sleep on a wedge on my left side, (Hiatal Hernia, possible Acid Reflux) no more dry mouth. I guess that stopped it or could it just be the mucus, phlegm etc. that has a tendency to build up in my system until I wake and then need to clear it out as best I can before going back to sleep. However, I had a respiratory therapist say that sleeping on your side helps keep the mouth from opening while you sleep and that sleeping on your back allows the mouth to open and cause dry mouth as you breath through your mouth, mouth breathing. I have often wondered if the night breathing through my mouth for years dryed out the bronchi tubes such that it contributed to the BE. Also, possibly not drinking enough water which might also possibly contribute to diverticulosis, which causes nearly the same type of change to the digestive tract as the bronchi tubes "bulges/pouches/pockets" where junk gets stuck and hard to get out. I also have dry eyes that was diagnosed approximately the same time I began having problems with my health that was finally diagnosed as BE. It all becomes complicated for us in many ways and, as I now understand with my experiences in the last two yeasr, it is sometimes too complicated for the professionals once our body changes and multiple systems have problems.