What Is The Function Of Saliva?

Spit, saliva or drool – what is the function of saliva? It serves essential bodily functions. 

Salivary glands in your cheeks and at the bottom of your mouth make about 1500ml or more of saliva per day, keeping your mouth moist while you chew, taste and swallow.

Made up mostly of water, the saliva and the chemical substances found in it begin your body’s digestive process. The more you chew, the more saliva the glands make, and this continuously flushes your mouth via salivary ducts. 

Besides being instrumental in the digestive process, healthy saliva fights the harmful bacteria in your mouth, thereby preventing bad breath, tooth decay and gum diseases. While the proteins and minerals present in saliva protect tooth enamel and generally strengthen teeth and gums.

The Functions Of Saliva

The primary function is the lubrication of food which occurs while chewing food. Saliva mixes with the food, and mucin, the sticky component within the saliva, forms a coated glob of food known as a bolus. The saliva then assists with the swallowing of the bolus.

The other functions are:

• Solvent Function: Saliva acts as a solvent for food substances. The food needs to be dissolved so that taste receptors in the taste buds throughout the oral cavity can perceive the taste of the food. This process of discerning the taste of the food is a chemical sense.
• Cleansing Function: The saliva flow keeps the mouth clean, especially food particles, epithelial cells that have been shed and other foreign particles. During fevers, lysozyme in saliva can kill some bacteria, but saliva flow may be reduced in some fevers.
• Digestive Function: Amylase in the saliva is an enzyme which assists with splitting carbohydrates. With a pH of 6.8, the salivary amylase has the capacity to break through the cellulose covering boiled starch, allowing for the digestion of cooked starch all the way from the mouth into the acidic pH level in the stomach. Glucose may be formed in this process.
• Excretory Function: Saliva serves an excretory function to remove microorganisms such as viruses that cause mumps; heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and iodides; alkaloids like morphine and antibiotics like penicillin and streptomycin. However, the saliva is swallowed and taken out via the stomach and intestines. 
• Speech Function: Saliva moistens the mouth and helps with speech articulation. Hence, the need to have water when speaking for a long time.
• Regulation of water content in the mouth. A dry mouth alerts the body of thirst or a dehydrated state. 
• Bicarbonate, phosphate and proteins in saliva maintain the ph balance in the mouth. An acidic ph causes tartar build-up and dental caries. 

Not Enough Saliva

The average person produces up to 2.5 litres of saliva daily. Usually, the body makes the bulk of the saliva in the late afternoon. It makes less at night.

But everyone is different. What doctors consider an average amount of saliva varies quite a bit. That makes diagnosing saliva problems a bit of a challenge.

But, not everyone has the comfort of having enough moisture in their mouths. According to WebMD, some people suffer from a dry mouth condition known as xerostomia.   

With too little saliva, there is insufficient flushing of the saliva in the mouth to remove food particles and other impurities. Germs breed and cause bad breath while the gums, tongue and other tissues swell, causing all round discomfort. 

In such dry, germ-filled conditions, bad breath is a given. It’s followed by tooth decay and gum diseases such as periodontitis. The sense of taste disappears. 

Systemic disorders that affect the body, specific medication and malnutrition may cause the lack of saliva. To make more, experts recommend that you drink more water, chew sugar-free gum and suck on sugar-free sweets.

There are the conditions that lead to low saliva levels:

• Diabetes, Parkinson’s, HIV/AIDS and Sjogren’s syndrome are some diseases;
• Smoking cigarettes;
• Dehydration;
• Salivary duct obstruction where there are blockages in the drainage tubes;
• Flawed structure in the salivary duct;
• Chemotherapy and radiation therapy that treat cancers;
• Adrenalin fight or flight responses under stressful conditions; and
• Commonly used medications such as anxiety medication, appetite suppressants, antihistamines, almost all antidepressants, certain blood pressure medications and certain analgesics.

 On the flip side, some people produce too much saliva,. In severe instances, this can cause drooling in people with compromised muscle control in the face and mouth. The overproduction of saliva may be due to their diets, having difficulty swallowing, medications or certain diseases. Producing too much saliva is medically referred to as hypersalivation or sialorrhea, depending on the accompanying symptoms.

Going to the dentist can be expensive if you don’t have extra cover – luckily, Affinity Dental plans are affordable and accessible.

Keeping in line with our vision of cost-effective insurance cover, we provide you with essential benefits at a rate you can afford.