Human saliva is a colorless, clear fluid that is necessary for wetting the mouth. It also helps in digestion, and without it, a person would not be able to articulate normally during a conversation. Why else do you need saliva? Here are some of its features:
- protects teeth from various kinds of injuries and various kinds of injuries;
- enhances the taste;
- perfectly cleanses the oral cavity.
Saliva is the result of the activity of the salivary gland. Human anatomy is complex, but everyone still needs to know it.
What are salivary glands?
They relate to the front of the digestive tract. Their activities affect digestion. They are also responsible for the condition of the oral cavity.
The salivary glands are usually divided into small and large.
Small include:
- molar;
- palatine;
- lingual;
- buccal;
- labial.
The big ones include:
- sublingual;
- parotid;
- submandibular.
Most saliva is secreted by large salivary glands.
In the lower part of the jaw is the submandibular gland. It goes from the hyoid papilla to the anterior process. It is not difficult to guess that the hyoid gland is located under the tongue, or rather in the hyoid fold. She has two of her ducts.
The largest of all three is the parotid gland. It is divided into lobules, which have their own salivary tubes.
The salivary glands produce a secret that mixes with other elements. As a result of all this, saliva appears . Saliva contains substances that prepare food for digestion in the stomach and duodenum. Some saliva enzymes (amylase, maltose and some others) can break down some components of food.
Saliva sterilizes food and prevents microbes from entering our body. This is a very important function of saliva, as it protects us from various gastrointestinal upsets.
By default, saliva also cleanses our mouth of the pieces of food that remained after the next meal. Such cleaning brings a lot of benefits.
Interesting facts about saliva
There are many different factors that can affect salivation. The norm of saliva per day is 2000 milliliters. However, it can stand out more or less if:
- the man ate something spoiled;
- a person is more than fifty-five years old (the salivary glands begin to work worse over time);
- a person is constantly in an excited state.
Various salivary gland diseases can also affect salivation .
Salivary gland: inflammation, treatment
Most often, these glands become inflamed due to general intoxication of the body, infection, or something else.
Symptoms include a sharp increase in the size of the salivary gland (or several glands at once), fever, aches throughout the body, pain in the area of the inflamed area. Secondary symptoms include severe headache, swelling of the temporal veins, pain in the neck. The inflamed gland partially or completely stops producing saliva.
Pathogenic pyogenic bacteria can cause rapid melting of glandular tissue. This can always be seen on the skin that is above the affected tissue (the skin turns red and swells). In this case, even the exit of pus through the mouth is possible. All this is accompanied by fever, throbbing pain. Inflammation of the salivary gland can sometimes lead to infection of those tissues that surround it.
In the event that the disease was diagnosed on time, for treatment, the oral cavity is treated with a solution of potassium permanganate or tea soda. Also, the patient should start using antibiotics.
In the case of a purulent process, injections are made into the ducts and tissues of the salivary gland.
In extreme cases, it can come to surgery.