The Salivary Gland and Systemic Health

Salivary glands are intimately connected with the entire body via the nervous system and blood vessels, yet few studies have documented the effects of the salivary glands on the health of the whole body, although saliva has often been reported to possibly contain promising biomarkers of systemic disease states, including cancer. We therefore propose that the investigation of the effects of the salivary gland on the whole body and vice versa could introduce a new field of study, i.e., "salivary gland and health medicine." This review examines data from novel studies on "salivary gland and health medicine" that were carried out by 3 different research groups.