Our saliva has various functions for our health. Thus, it not only makes an important contribution to digestion, but also to dental care, because it performs an important protective function against caris. What are the functions of saliva? What to do if you have too much saliva? Worth knowing about the saliva read here.
Tasks of saliva
Saliva has several functions. It moistens the food, at the same time facilitates swallowing and forms the first barrier in the mouth against pathogens, thus contributing to the immune defense. It also plays an important role in dental care: saliva neutralizes acids after eating or drinking and remineralizes tooth enamel with its minerals. This is because saliva contains all the mineral salts that can harden tooth enamel and at the same time resist acid attacks.
Protective function against caries
Whether it’s sweet snacks or fruit, every time bacteria break down the sugar in food into acid. Caries develops because the tooth surface is attacked and demineralized by these acids. Now the natural protective function of saliva kicks in: Saliva dilutes the acids and breaks them down. But that’s not all: saliva also promotes the reintegration (remineralization) of tooth-hardening minerals into the enamel, thus counteracting the development of caries.
Too much saliva in the mouth
While too little saliva leads to dry mouth, conversely, you can have too much saliva. Excessive salivation (sialorrhea or hypersalivation) is very uncomfortable for sufferers. Often, too much saliva in the mouth is manifested by drooling or spitting when speaking, i.e. wet pronunciation. Not only can this lead to social exclusion, but it can also have medical consequences, such as coughing, retching, vomiting, infections of the skin at the corner of the mouth, or an increased risk of respiratory diseases and pneumonia if the saliva gets into the airways.
Causes of hypersalivation
Too much spit in the mouth can have many different causes. Both the production can be increased and the outflow of saliva can be obstructed. Possible causes of temporary hypersalivation include:
- Appetizing stimuli or acidic foods.
- Nausea
- Foreign body in the throat
- During pregnancy, increased activity of the parasympathetic nervous system
Permanently increased salivation may be due to the following reasons, among others:
- Side effects of medications, such as neuroleptics or urological agents for the bladder.
- Neurological disorders, for example, Parkinson’s disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
- General diseases, such as diabetes insipidus or the autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis.
- Local factors, such as tooth decay, malocclusion, ill-fitting dentures or inflammation of the oral mucosa or tonsils.
- Mental illnesses in which there are dysphagia, such as schizophrenia or manic depression.
Excessive salivation – what to do?
The treatment of hypersalivation is always dependent on the causes, which is why these should first be clarified and eliminated if possible. For example, a malpositioned tooth can be corrected or inflamed tonsils removed. Drug treatment can also be considered to reduce the flow of saliva. Since spring 2018, the active ingredient glycopyrronium has been approved for this purpose. The attending physician can advise on suitable medications. In addition, depending on the cause, methods such as acupuncture, speech therapy, physiotherapy, radiation or surgery can also help if too much saliva is produced in the mouth. Botulinum injections, among others, are also used, although the procedure has not yet been approved. As a home remedy, sage is suitable for regulating saliva flow.
13 Facts about saliva and oral health
Would you have known that …
- An adult produces one to two liters of saliva daily?
- Saliva consists of 99.5 percent water?
- Humans have four salivary glands – although the fourth salivary gland, located in the nasopharynx, was only discovered in October 2020?
- An overproduction of saliva until the age of four is considered normal?
- 300 different species of bacteria live in the oral cavity of a person?
- 80 species of bacteria in the oral cavity are responsible for unpleasant odors?
- The causes of bad breath in about 85 percent of cases lie in the mouth and throat area?
- Bad breath is an alarm signal of the body and can indicate serious diseases?
- The German citizens spend about 1 billion euros each year on oral care?
- The first tongue scraper is already 4,500 years old?
- The tongue cleaning belongs to the morning ritual of Ayurvedic teachings?
- An estimated 7 percent of Germans regularly clean their tongues?
- Infants have about 10,000 taste buds and thus a much finer palate than adults?
