What Does Saliva Do?
In the mouth, saliva controls the environment of the teeth: • Lubrication to facilitate chewing, swallowing and speech • Cleansing to wash away food debris from the mouth and teeth • Buffering to neutralize acid production by plaque bacteria • Digestive to begin the breakdown of carbohydrates • Remineralization to help repair the early stages of tooth decay • Protection against infection
Saliva, or “spit,” helps you swallow and digest food. As soon as you start to eat, glands in your mouth begin to secrete saliva, moistening and softening food to make it easier to swallow. Saliva also contains an enzyme called ptyalin, which digests food the same way that the digestive juices in your stomach do. This enzyme chan
