Fun Facts About Saliva

Saliva plays a key role in keeping the body healthy, but many people fail to recognize its importance.

At Howard Healthcare Academy, we’re here to educate dental assistant students about a broad range of oral health topics, including saliva. As such, we want to teach you about the ins and outs of saliva and how saliva impacts your daily life.

Here are four fun facts about saliva that you need to know:

1. Saliva allows you to taste and swallow foods.

 Imagine what it would be like if you took a bite of your favorite food but could not experience the food’s rich, delicious flavors. Thanks to saliva, you can taste and swallow foods and beverages with ease.

2. Saliva can help you combat bad breath.

 Halitosis (bad breath) can be problematic, but saliva will help you put this problem in the past. Saliva boasts germ-fighting abilities that will enable you to combat bad breath. Thus, saliva allows you to wash away decaying foods and odors, ensuring you can minimize halitosis consistently.

3. Saliva has been shown to help prevent gum disease and tooth decay.

 Although you might already brush and floss your teeth regularly, these oral health habits alone may prove to be insufficient to prevent gum disease and tooth decay. Fortunately, there is saliva, which has been shown to help individuals stop these problems.

Saliva features proteins and minerals that allow you to fight many oral health problems. As a result, saliva is exceedingly valuable and could prove to be the difference for those who want to keep their teeth looking great for years to come.

4. A lack of saliva can lead to long-term oral health issues.

 Various diseases and medications may make it difficult for an individual to produce a sufficient amount of saliva, resulting in dry mouth. If dry mouth occurs, however, an individual could become more susceptible to gum disease, tooth decay and other long-term oral health problems.

There are many ways to combat dry mouth. In fact, drinking several glasses of water throughout the day or chewing sugarless gum may help an individual maintain a sufficient amount of saliva.

Want to find out more about saliva and other oral hygiene topics? Enroll in the dental assistant training program at Howard Healthcare Academy, and you can learn about saliva, how it can help keep the body healthy and much more.