Despite the Saints' deluge of points, it was Sale who drew first blood in the third minute through Hodgson's boot, but Northampton went ahead after a decision not to kick for goal when they were awarded a penalty paid dividends.
Instead they opted for a lineout and after Sale were penalised after failing to deal with a rolling maul, scrum-half Dickson took a quick tap and darted over.
Sale had Wales international scrum-half Dwayne Peel carried off shortly after following a long spell of treatment, but within a minute Saints left-wing Paul Diggin scythed through the middle before sending Ashton over.
Sharks hooker Briggs was sent to the sin-bin for illegally stopping another surge by Northampton's forwards, and after Saints opted for a scrum instead of kicking for goal they were awarded a penalty try after driving Sale backwards.
The home side appeared to be in charge but Sale rallied to close to within three points as replacement scrum-half Will Cliff sent Jones over, Hodgson converting from the touchline and landing two penalties, the second of which saw home number eight Roger Wilson sin-binned for going into the ruck at the side.
Despite being a man short, Northampton increased their lead before the interval when Mujati charged over to secure his side a bonus point before the break and Stephen Myler, who kicked 13 points, landed a difficult conversion.
Sale again responded when Lewaravu went over soon after the restart, but the score resulted in a fight in front of the posts which led to Briggs being dismissed after receiving a second yellow card for his part in the affray.
Northampton certainly made the most of their numerical advantage as flanker Wood crossed for his first try since arriving from Worcester last summer before they were awarded a second penalty try.
Replacement Reihana added the Saints' seventh shortly after coming on in place of Diggin, before substitute flanker Dowson completed the scoring.
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder told BBC Radio Northampton: "I think it's (a case of) good players, playing for each other.
"We've gone through those defeats and now we've come out the other side.
"We've won three out of three, which is brilliant, and we need to keep that going now.
Replacements: Reihana for Diggin (69), Geraghty for Myler (62), Commins for Dickson (63), Waller for Tonga'uiha (62), Sharman for Hartley (62), Mercey for Mujati (58), Sorenson for Day (62), Dowson for Clark (52).
Replacements: Thornley for Tonetti (72), Miller for Hodgson (71), Cliff for Peel (13), Croall for Imiolek (61), Forster for Thomas (61), Rouse for Lewaravu (72), M. Jones for Seymour (50), McMillan for Koyamaibole (61).
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