The saliva in your mouth is more than just water. It’s a complex mixture of minerals, proteins, and ions that help nourish and maintain the structure of the oral tissues. It has multiple functions, from kickstarting digestion to buffering the acidic products produced by the bacteria in the mouth; it has so much to do.
Yet, we often take saliva for granted. It’s in the mouth when we swallow or chew, and we don’t think too much about it. In reality, however, it’s our first line of protection against many things, including oral health.
In this post, we’re going to explore the critical role saliva plays in maintaining oral health and what happens when quality and quantity upset the balance.
The Production and Composition of Saliva
Saliva, commonly known as spit, is a clear liquid produced by the major and minor salivary glands.
Essentially, we have three pairs of major salivary glands: parotid, submandibular, and sublingual. However, we also have around 800 to 1000 smaller salivary glands. These are distributed in the lower lip, cheeks, tongue, palate and pharynx and their role is to lubricate the walls of the oral cavity. Both major saliva-producing and minor secretion-producing glands manufacture a host of serous and mucous serums vital to lubricate the mouth and help maintain the natural balance of the oral microbiome.
Paradoxically, it’s said that minor salivary glands are more important because of the kind of protective stability they provide to the oral cavity.
Primarily, saliva is a diluted fluid consisting of 99% water. However, the remaining 1% consists of various charged particles, including sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, magnesium, and phosphates; while several beneficial molecules including, antibodies, proteins, mucins, enzymes, as well as nitrogenous products such as urea and ammonia, make up the balance. The complex interactions of these components contribute to the overall vitality of saliva towards oral health.
So now we know what saliva comprises of, let’s dive deeper into how it aids oral health…
Understanding the Multifaceted Functions of Saliva
Saliva’s role in optimising oral health is carried across several functions:
It provides an oral buffer to prevent cavities:
The normal pH of saliva is 6 to 6.5, which is slightly acidic. When bacteria in our mouths feast on food particles more acid is released causing the pH of saliva to become even more acidic. To counteract this effect, bicarbonates, phosphates, and urea contained in saliva act as pH modulators to neutralise the acid, bringing the pH back to normal.
It helps in digestion:
Another important role of saliva is that serves to initiate digestion. Once you chew your food, the amylase in your saliva breaks down the starch into smaller carbohydrate chains which our bodies can easily absorb.
Controls plaque formation and metabolism:
Saliva also helps flush the food particles stuck on the surfaces and gaps between the teeth. This flushing effect causes your mouth and throat to stay moist. While food particles aid the adhesion of bacteria-forming plaque, the enzymes contained in saliva break it down thereby regulating any plaque formation in the mouth.
Regulates teeth formation and dissolution:
Finally, calcium, phosphates, and proteins contained in saliva help balance the loss and repair of minerals from the outer, whiter surface of the tooth, known as enamel. These elements, together with the fluoride obtained from external sources, help stop minerals from being lost by enhancing deposition on the teeth.
As you can see, saliva plays a major role in keeping the mouth healthy, but what can happen when saliva diminishes or isn’t present at all?
Dry Mouth: Reduced Salivary Flow
Did you know that adults produce an average of 1 to 1.5 litres of saliva daily? When salivary glands don’t produce this amount of saliva, the condition is technically known as (xerostomia) or hyposalivation and commonly affects 1 in 5 of us. There are several contributing factors to dry mouth including:
- Aging – With increasing age, the salivary glands might not work as effectively. Production often decreases, leading to reduced saliva production. Several studies have demonstrated significant changes in salivary flow with age. Affoo et al. (2015) found that older adults produce nearly 66% less saliva under stimulated conditions compared to younger adults. Hence, susceptibility to oral infection increases with age, which in turn has an impact on oral health.
- Certain Medications – Drugs for allergies, high blood pressure, diarrhoea, muscle pain, urinary incontinence, and neurological diseases are most known to cause a dry mouth. According to research, almost 21% of patients who develop xerostomia have this problem due to medication they are taking for other conditions.
- Radiation Therapy – Patients who have undergone head and neck radiation therapy for cancer treatment show about 50% to 60% decline in their salivary flow. The reduction directly depends on the radiation dose and the area of radiation exposure.
If you do experience dry mouth due to one or more of the conditions above, there are ways in which you can naturally increase saliva production. Let’s take a closer look.
How to Boost Salivary Production To Optimise The Oral Health
The feeling of a dry mouth is not only unpleasant, but it also affects your oral health by causing tooth decay, gum diseases, bad breath and so on. Below are 4 effective methods to improve the quality and quantity of saliva.
1# Drink more water regularly:
Keeping your mouth hydrated throughout the day will significantly help reduce the symptoms of dry mouth. Moreover, it will also prevent you from acquiring oral diseases.
2# Use sugar-free chewing gums:
Chewing sugar-free chewing gums or lozenges will help stimulate salivary flow. The use of xylitol-based products is also advisable.
3# Watch your diet:
Limit your intake of certain foods that aggravate the symptoms of dry mouth. These include tea, coffee, carbohydrate-containing drinks and alcoholic beverages. Avoiding salty and spicy foods can also help to alleviate symptoms.
4# Use oral rinse:
Alcohol-free oral rinses help alleviate the symptoms of dry mouth only when used correctly. Don’t forget to consult your dentist before using an over-the-counter mouth rinse for the problem.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, saliva plays a crucial role in maintaining oral health with its multifaceted functions. Moreover, failing to produce enough saliva can upset the natural balance of the oral microbiome and compromise functionality. If you do face problems like dry mouth, bad breath or other oral problems, don’t leave it, expecting the problem to go away. Instead, talk to your local dentist, explain your condition and they will develop a personalised treatment plan to get your smile back on track.