Saliva, aka SPIT – is very important. Your may have even been complimented at your dental cleaning appointment by your dental hygienist on your saliva. It usually goes something like this:

dental hygienist “wow, you have a lot of saliva”   

patient (who is now wondering is that good or bad) “what does that mean?”

Saliva is very important :

– helps to wash food particles off the teeth and surfaces inside the oral cavity

– contains antibacterial components – comes in handy when babies are putting everything in their mouths

– contains minerals that can help repair tooth enamel that has started to break down

– helps to buffer acids and restore neutral pH when you’ve consumed foods that have created an acidic environment

– can be tested for presence of drugs in the body

-Japan’s Keio University and University of California, have been working on developing saliva testing technology that can detect pancreatic cancer, breast cancer and oral cancer

– dental hygienists can perform saliva testing in the clinic to determine if there is a high level of the strains of bacteria that play a role in the initiation of dental decay

Lifetime Smiles Dental Hygiene clinic in efforts to assist in preventing dental decay can perform saliva testing. If it is determined that you are at a high risk (large population of decay causing bacteria), recommendations can be made to help change amounts of bacteria and treat the infection.   Yes, dental decay is caused by bacteria and is a bacterial infection. Dental decay is the most common chronic infection of early childhood.

Should an adult be concerned? yes, as dental decay is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults.

Prescribed medications and other health problems can decrease the amount of saliva produced, or dimish the neutralizing properties, thus creating a higher risk of dental decay.

Discuss this with your dental hygienist or other dental providers. Dental hygienists love to assist in prevention, as I have indicated in previous blogs, dental hygienists love to talk “prevention”.