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Increased salivation.

Salivation is a natural process of the salivary glands, whose task is to produce a secretion called saliva in order to prevent the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat from drying out, wetting the food lump and starting the process of digestion (breakdown of substances). Saliva also performs a protective function, reducing the activity of conditionally pathogenic microflora that enters the oral cavity. Normally, the volume of saliva secreted over a five-minute period ranges from 1 ml. For some people it may be underestimated, for others it may be overestimated.

Increased salivation – causes.

How much saliva the salivary glands secrete depends on many factors:

from the proper functioning of the salivary glands themselves;
from irritants of receptors of smell and taste, which naturally enhance the secretion of the salivary glands;
from the developed conditioned reflex of food intake in a certain period of time;
from endocrine disorders in the body, causing increased secretion of the salivary glands;
from acute and chronic diseases that provoke a violation of the secretion of saliva in the direction of increasing its volume (gastrointestinal diseases, neurological diseases, brain injuries, diseases of the oral cavity and pharynx, nasal breathing disorders, malocclusion, intoxication, parasitic diseases);
from hormonal changes during puberty, pregnancy or menopause;
from taking medications that increase salivation;
and many other factors.

Increased salivation in children.

The causes of increased salivation in adults and children can be different.

In newborns, the activity of the salivary glands is low. The active secretion of saliva begins by the time the baby reaches the age of one and a half months (begins to "blow bubbles") and continues until the moment when the child learns to swallow saliva. Until then, the swallowing reflex in babies is present only at the time of feeding. Increased salivation in a child under two years of age is a physiological process associated with teething. But increased salivation in a child up to two years of age can also be observed:

with a congenital defect in swallowing disorders;
for diseases of the oral and nasal mucosa;
with allergic rhinitis;
with parasitic diseases;
with pathologies of the nervous system and other disorders of the child's body.

Increased salivation – treatment.

The increased work of the salivary glands in adults and children over the age of two can be the result of viral diseases (viral sialodenitis), a protective reaction to irritation of the mucous membrane by pathogens or chemical reagents, the presence of dentures or orthodontic prostheses in the oral cavity. The work of the facial and chewing muscles at the time of a conversation can provoke increased salivation. Violation of nasal breathing as a result of swelling of the nasal mucosa with allergies, infectious rhinitis, with the proliferation of adenoids, causes preferential breathing through the mouth, which in turn dries out the oral mucosa and causes reflex salivation.

To establish the true cause of increased salivation, it is necessary to conduct methodological examinations. If pathologies or diseases are detected that are not associated with dysfunction of the salivary glands, then these diseases are treated and pathologies are eliminated. But if hyperfunction of the salivary glands is revealed – hypersalivation, then special drugs are prescribed that have an anticholinergic effect and inhibit the excessive activity of the salivary glands. There are methods of using surgical treatment for hypersalivation - selective removal of the salivary glands.