Talking, swallowing, tasting: these gestures seem so simple that their humid environment becomes invisible. Several glands provide a liquid essential to their smooth running. Saliva is not only used to wet a food before it disappears into the throat.
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research gives an order of magnitude of about one liter per day. The flow varies, especially according to the times and situations. When the glands are damaged, difficulties in speaking, chewing or swallowing suddenly make this usually discreet service noticeable.
Multiplying a daily volume by eighty years would yield a spectacular number, but would assume a constant flow rate and an arbitrarily chosen lifetime. The reality is enough: our mouth receives an important renewal of liquid every day without us having to fill it ourselves. It is often his absence, more than his presence, that makes us measure his role.
What we know
Approximate and variable daily production; no total life presented as an individual measure.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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