Salivary glands and problems that can arise with them

Human saliva is a colorless transparent liquid that is necessary for wetting the oral cavity. It also helps in digestion, and without it a person could not normally articulate during a conversation. What else do you need saliva for? Here are some of its functions:

- protects teeth from various kinds of injuries and various types of damage;

- strengthens the taste sensations;

- perfectly cleanses the oral cavity.

Saliva is the result of the salivary gland. The anatomy of a person is complicated, but everyone still needs to know it.

What are the salivary glands?

They refer to the anterior part of the digestive tract. Their activity affects digestion. They are also responsible for the condition of the oral cavity.

Salivary glands, as a rule, are divided into small and large glands.

To small carry:

- molar;

- palatine;

- language;

- cheek;

- Labory.

To the big relate:

- Sublingual;

Parotid;

- submandibular.

The most saliva is secreted by the large salivary glands.

In the lowest part of the jaw is the submaxillary gland. It extends from the sublingual papilla to the anterior process. It is not difficult to guess that the hyoid gland is 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 salivary tubes.

Salivary glands produce a secret that is mixed 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 enzymes of saliva (amylase, maltose and some others) can split 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 disorders.

By default, saliva also clears our mouth cavity of the pieces of food left after another meal. Such cleaning brings a lot of benefits.

Interesting facts about saliva

There are many different factors that can affect the secretion of saliva. The norm of saliva per day is 2000 milliliters. However, it can be allocated more or less if:

- A man ate something spoiled;

- a person more than fifty-five years old (salivary glands with time start to work worse);

- a person is constantly in an excited state.

The salivary secretion can be affected by various diseases of the salivary glands.

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 all over the body, pain in the area of the inflamed area. Secondary symptoms include severe headache, swelling of the temporal veins, pain in the occiput. 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 reddens and swells). In this case, even the outflow of pus through the mouth is possible. All this is accompanied by heat, 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, the oral cavity is treated with a solution of manganese potassium or tea soda for treatment. The patient should also start using antibiotics.

In the case of a purulent process, injections are made to the ducts and tissues of the salivary gland.

In extreme cases, the matter can go as far as surgical intervention.