Understanding the Importance of Saliva and its impact on your Oral Health

Have you ever given a careful thought on how saliva is important to your health? Well, most of us take it for granted and hardly consider about it. But, those who face conditions of diminishing quantity or quality of saliva understand the worth of every spit. It performs important functions in our mouths that affect our overall physical health.

As a trusted dental clinic in Pune,  the Dental Sphere takes it as its responsibility to spread a word of awareness about oral health. If you are mindful of your oral hygiene and want to know how saliva can be instrumental to it, we’ve got you covered.

What is saliva and how is it produced?

While saliva is mostly made of water, it also contains small amounts of other important substances like mucus, proteins, minerals, electrolytes, antibacterial compounds and enzymes.  These substances are needed by our body to digest food and maintain good oral health.

Salivary glands spread in and around our mouth (including lips, cheeks, palate and floor of the mouth) are responsible for producing saliva. There are six major salivary glands and hundreds of minor ones.

Normally, the body makes up to 2 to 4 pints of saliva a day. Its is produced when you are chewing or sucking on a hard candy. While maximum saliva is produced during the daytime, at night it’s the least.

Benefits of Saliva

Saliva helps us maintain good oral health and contributes to better life quality. Want to know how? The below list will make things clear for you:

• It keeps mouth moist and comfortable
• It helps to chew, taste, and swallow
• It fights against germs present in mouth and prevents bad breath
• The proteins & minerals in saliva protect tooth enamel and prevent tooth decay and gum disease
• It Keeps dentures securely in place

Do you know that morning saliva is known to have special healing benefits? In fact, the benefits of morning saliva are known to humans for over 2000 years. It’s said to have anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory properties that are effective in treating stye, pimples, acne, etc.

What if you have little saliva?  

Some people witness less saliva production. This could be owing to some disease or medications and the condition is called dry mouth or xerostomia. Those suffering from dry mouth experience discomfort and diminished oral health. Root decay is one of the major concerns often associated with it. It is viewed as a big problem for dentists because it tends to progress rapidly and is very difficult to restore successfully. Apart from this, bad breath, changed sense of taste, difficulty in speaking, chewing and swallowing etc too are some other related issues.

However, the good news is that there are treatments available that can be effective in increasing salivary flow and minimizing the damage caused when salivary function fails to be restored.

All dental experts and specialists including top dentist in Pune and elsewhere, council patients on the importance of following to counter the effects of xerostomia:

• Proper water intake (hydration),
• Using sugarless gum or mints to stimulate salivary flow
• Keeping up good dental care by brushing and flossing every day.
• Visiting your dentist for check-ups and cleanings to help prevent problems by spotting them early.

While the above content gives you a brief understanding of saliva and its importance, if you want to learn more about oral hygiene and keep dental issues at bay, connect with the Dental Sphere. We’d love to help you out!