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Discover the Science of Spit: Top 13 Fun and Fascinating Facts about Saliva

illustration of saliva
Get ready to drool over these amusing and intriguing tidbits about the unsung hero of our mouths – saliva!

1. Camel-like Spit Swigging

Swigging gallons of spit like a thirsty camel: here's a wet and wild fact for you – the human mouth produces up to 1.5 liters of saliva every single day! This slippery concoction is our body's all-in-one food lubricant, appetizer, and bouncer, starting digestion with enzymes like salivary amylase and lingual lipase, making food easier to swallow, and giving bugs the boot with antimicrobial compounds.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

2. Saliva, the Mouth's Batman

Did you know saliva is your mouth's unsung hero, a silent guardian that watches over those pearly whites like Batman in the city of Gotham? It even has superpowers: Saliva plays a crucial role in protecting our mouths against microbial invasion and injuries, maintaining an acceptable pH range, preventing dental demineralization, and even helps in digestion and fighting germs! Holy plaque-prevention, Batman!
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

3. Kissing for Cavity Prevention

Forget Cupid's bow, aim for the Dental Archer: Kissing can help prevent tooth decay and cavities by increasing saliva production, which lubricates your mouth and stops food debris from sticking to your teeth.
Source => healthline.com

4. Spitting Bars and Saliva Stats

While you might be spitting bars rapping your favorite songs or mouth overflowing in a dentist's chair, your salivary glands are out here putting in work: On average, a person produces 1 to 1.5 liters of saliva daily which aids in digestion, pH balance maintenance, and bacteria flushing!
Source => toppr.com

Mother Nature's Toothpaste

5. Mother Nature's Toothpaste

Mother Nature's toothpaste, coming to a mouth near you: Saliva is chock-full of minerals like calcium, phosphorous, and even fluoride that work tirelessly to repair and strengthen your tooth enamel, providing a bubbly defense against cavity villains!
Source => deltadental.com

6. Mouth Water Parks and Saliva Slides

Step aside, water parks and mist machines: the human mouth has you beat with its own slippery slides and sprinklers. That's right, we're talking about saliva! The serious reveal: This not-so-ordinary substance is a concoction of proteins, salts, and our daily 0.5 to 1.5 liters of liquid flow assistance. It not only acts as the unsung hero of enamel protection, providing buffering and remineralization, but it can also be influenced by our health and psychological states, making it an undercover detective monitoring disease progression and treatment responses.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

7. Dinner's Juicy Secret

Hold onto your forks, folks – dinner's about to get juicier: Saliva not only assists in the mastication and deglutition of your favorite meal, but it also secretly moonlights as a biochemical superstar that breaks down carbohydrates and lipids and serves as a tiny bouncer for your mouth's bacterial shenanigans, foiling tooth decay and infections in the process.
Source => healthline.com

8. Superheroes and Tasty Adventures

Ever wonder what superheroes have in common with saliva? They both swoop in to save the day, and they never work for taste: With the ability to protect your taste buds from dryness and infection, saliva acts as a mighty guardian for your taste receptor cells while also transporting tasty substances and crucial chemicals like bicarbonate ions to them, ultimately enhancing your flavor experience. Now that's a marvel-ous feat!
Source => pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

9. Antimicrobial Salivary Squad

Holy spittle, Batman! Our mouths are like tiny superhero teams fighting the bad guys of bacteria, fungi, and more: Saliva is loaded with antimicrobial warriors such as enzymes, lactoferrin, and peptides, including histatin-5, which has particularly powerful antifungal powers to keep Candida albicans at bay.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Bread-Breaking Saliva Brawn

10. Bread-Breaking Saliva Brawn

You know that phrase, "breaking bread"? Well, your saliva is right there, providing the bread-breaking brawn: Saliva contains enzymes that help break down food during digestion, working alongside the water and proteins to aid in swallowing and ensure our digestive health remains top-notch.
Source => healthgrades.com

11. Sleep Drool Dangers

When Morpheus takes the wheel and drool becomes the compass: during sleep, our saliva production decreases substantially, leading to a decrease in swallowing rates from about 25 times per hour to a mere 5 times per hour, potentially exposing the esophagus to gastric acid harm and increasing the risk of mucosal damage and esophagitis.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

12. Saliva: Undercover Tooth Defender

Saliva: Nature's superhero in a perpetual undercover mission right under your nose, fearlessly neutralizing acidic enemies and fighting off dastardly bacteria that seek to destroy your tooth enamel empire. The serious reveal: Saliva saves the day by restoring the mouth's pH levels within 30 minutes to an hour after eating and employing protein defenders such as lactoferrin and Immunoglobulin A (IgA) to safeguard against tooth decay and oral infections.
Source => downtownparkerdental.com

13. Mucins: The Cavity-Fighting Champs

Not all heroes wear capes, some wear long, sticky, invisible gloves: Saliva contains salivary mucins that fight off cavity-causing bacterium Streptococcus mutans, preventing them from forming biofilms on teeth and attacking tooth enamel – potentially making mucins a more efficient cavity-fighter than traditional sealants and fluoride treatments.
Source => medicalnewstoday.com

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