Salivary gland disease

Saliva is essential for speech and swallowing and plays an important role in maintaining oral health by maintaining the integrity of the oral mucosa. It contains a variety of proteins with anti-bacterial activity and salts and minerals including fluoride and acts as a buffer and is, therefore, important in the control of dental caries and periodontal disease.

Saliva is produced by the three pairs of major salivary glands which are the parotid glands in the preauricular region, the submandibular glands and the sublingual glands in the floor of the mouth. In addition, there are about 200 minor salivary glands distributed widely just below the mucosal lining of the mouth and on the hard and soft palate, cheeks, lips and floor of mouth.

Salivary glands can be involved in many pathological processes, including congenital abnormalities, infections and other inflammatory disorders, obstruction, neoplasia and degenerative disorders. The most frequent problems seen in clinical practice are due to infections, obstruction from stones, benign and malignant tumours and destructive auto-immune disease.