why does saliva not eventually dissolve your teeth?
In: Biology
Saliva helps to lubricate things so you can swallow and to start the digestion process. Specifically, for digestion, it contains enzymes called amylases, which break down starches/sugars. That is why things like saltine crackers will disintegrate in your mouth. But your teeth aren’t made of starches, so your saliva doesn’t dissolve them
Many solids are not soluble in water. Glass, steel, plastic, wood, etc, don’t dissolve in water.
Your saliva is mostly water, and the above wouldn’t dissolve in your saliva either, and neither do teeth.
In fact, since your teeth are at risk of decaying from *acids*, your saliva mildly protects you. Saliva usually has a close to *neutral* and is often slightly *basic*, and so it will dilute, neutralise, and help wash away acids on your teeth, protecting them slightly.
Your saliva contains calcium and phosphate minerals that deposit on your teeth and remineralize them. So it actually does the opposite of dissolve them, it embiggens them!
Now the reason you still get cavities despite this is remineralization is a very slow process and the decay caused by acid produced by bacteria happens much faster.
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