Of all the wonderful things about your body, you wouldn’t consider saliva to be such a good thing. In fact, you’d probably curse the stuff for putting you in some of the most embarrassing situations. However, Alliance Family Dental in Fayetteville, NC can look past any of the awkward stuff that saliva is often associated with and see its real beauty. In the world of teeth, saliva is such a good thing that it actually is considered our mouth’s natural mouth rinse. At present, Americans spend around $1.8 billion in toothpaste alone. However, back during the prehistoric times, humans didn’t have this minty products yet but their pearly whites were taken care of by nothing more than saliva. So how exactly does saliva work and why is it such a good thing?

fayettteville dentistProducing saliva.

Saliva is produced by your salivary glands and is made up of 99.5 percent water. The remainder, which is 0.5 percent, is composed of a host of substances including electrolytes, enzymes and antibacterial compounds. The presence of enzymes in saliva allows the substance to play a role in the digestion of food. In fact, this role extends from just the simple lubrication of food in order to make it easier to masticate, but all the way to the conversion of complex carbohydrates into simple sugars. Also, saliva is crucial to allowing you to taste your food.

Saliva and your oral health.

However, when it comes to the dental perspective of saliva, the substance is needed in order to dislodge the particles which could be trapped in between your teeth and in tiny crevices which could be the source of tooth decay. But say that your teeth are already suffering the wrath of cavities, what can your saliva do at this point? Your saliva, when mixed with calcium and phosphates, can actually help in the remineralization of enamel which may reverse the early stages of cavity-formation.

One of the most important functions of saliva is its ability to deter the growth of oral bacteria inside your mouth. Have you ever wondered why babies don’t have cavities even if they aren’t allowed to brush their teeth using toothpaste until they’re 2? Look at how often they drool and everything should make sense. It is when people suffer from the reduced production of saliva when oral conditions start cropping up such as halitosis and tooth decay. So the next time you say ‘yuck’, think of all the good things saliva bring.

Even though saliva is a vital part of your oral health, you still need twice yearly check ups at Alliance Family Dental in Fayetteville, NC to complete your health care routine.

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