Spit (saliva) plays a huge part in maintaining your oral health.  It is derived from the blood and acts as the bloodstream of the mouth.  What does this mean?  Well just like blood, saliva helps to build and maintain the health of the soft and hard tissues.  When saliva flow is sparse, it can create oral health issues like tooth decay or other oral infections can occur.  The most efficient way to stimulate salivary flow is chewing.  The chewing motion causes muscles to compress the salivary glands, releasing saliva.  Best Dental Care Near Me Queen Creek AZ

Saliva also does the following:

• Washes the teeth, helping to remove any food and debris that is left on the teeth and gums. #martindental
• Moisten food and break it down to make things easier to swallow.  It also enhances our ability to taste.
• Produces disease fighting substances in the mouth to help prevent cavities and other infections.
• Keeps the surface of the teeth strong by providing calcium, fluoride and phosphate ions.

#smilewithconfidence While it keeps the mouth healthy, saliva can contain indicators of health concerns.  Because it shares a lot of the same properties with blood, saliva can detect and diagnose oral diseases or other diseases that can affect your general health.  There is research that has produced promising results in using saliva for the diagnosis of breast cancer, oral cancer, gum disease and viral hepatitis.  Saliva is already being used to diagnose rapid HIV tests. Best Dental Care Near Me Queen Creek AZ

The United States National Institutes of Health believes salivary diagnostics is important to develop and is currently researching its many potential uses.