The buffer capacity of saliva has been found to vary in different studies where is ranged from 4.20 ± 1.24 in a study conducted by Islas-Granillo et al. (40) while another study demonstrated a buffer capacity of 4.15 (41). Similarly, the PH of saliva among individuals was found to be 7.88 ± 0.83(40) while another study conducted by Corrêa, Lerco, Cunha Mde and Henry (42) reported a salivary PH of 7.0. (I think saliva has a pH around 6.2 – 7.6 where 6.7 is the most average. Can you find a reference that says that and write that instead?). Salivary mucins have been reported to play essential roles in the protections of the oral mucous membranes from irritants and toxins contained in food and stimulants. In recent findings, mucins were shown to protect the oral cavity by mechanisms related to coating by polymer structures (Can you write just one more sentence about this ? how is it related to coating by polymer structures) (43). The initial step of oral cavity protection by the mucins constitutes the interaction with salivary proteins to change their locality and retention. Overall, the hallmark of these effects is the protection of the mouth cavity. Furthermore, MUC7 and MUC5B have the ability to interact with various microorganisms in the mouth to facilitate the removal of pathogenicity(44).
According to Muddugangadhar, Sangur, Rudraprasad, Nandweeshwar and Kumar (45), the flow rate of stimulated saliva was shown to be higher compared to the flow rate of unstimulated saliva which was accompanied by a higher PH (can we find a reference that says how much saliva per/minute, just to put a number on the rate of stimulated/unstimulated saliva). Consequently, the changes in flow rates of saliva can be attributed to the buffer capacity and PH of saliva. All these factors dictate the defence capability of saliva. In assertions made by Navazesh and Kumar (46), unstimulated saliva existed as a result of fasting to make the saliva unstimulated due to the absence of food in the mouth cavity (So unstimulated saliva is due to the absence of food in the oral cavity. But I don’t understand the part with .. as a result of fasting to make the saliva unstimulated ..?). The major contributors to stimulated saliva encompass the parotid salivary glands while unstimulated saliva is secreted by the submandibular glands (46). In this perspective, saliva constitutes several compounds which dictate its PH and buffer system ability. These properties have p