Smitha Annie Jacob, and Anoop Gopalakrishnan
Saliva, a versatile substance, serves many purposes in the oral environment. Saliva is of crucial importance both in edentulous and dentulous persons. In dentulous persons, it serves as a means of buffering the acids produced in plaque from food debris, supplying the inorganic ions required to remineralize incipient lesions and in diluting and washing away sugars from around the teeth. In edentulous patients, it is very important for the retention and comfort of the prosthesis. A comprehensive knowledge regarding saliva is essential for providing efficient prosthodontic treatment and after care.