Your salivary glands make saliva - sometimes called spit - and empty it into your mouth through openings called ducts. Saliva makes your food moist, which helps you chew and swallow. It helps you digest your food. It also cleans your mouth and contains antibodies that can kill germs.
Problems with salivary glands can cause the glands to become irritated and swollen. This causes symptoms such as
- Bad taste in the mouth
- Difficulty opening your mouth
- Dry mouth
- Pain in the face or mouth
- Swelling of the face or neck
Causes of salivary gland problems include infections, obstruction or cancer. Problems can also be due to other disorders, such as mumps or Sjogren's syndrome.
- Salivary Glands(American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery) - http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/salivaryGlands.cfm
- How Is Salivary Gland Cancer Found?(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/content/cri_2_2_3x_how_is_salivary_gland_cancer_found_54.asp?sitearea=cri
- How Is Salivary Gland Cancer Treated?(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/content/cri_2_2_4x_treatment_for_salivary_gland_cancer_54.asp?sitearea=cri
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Salivary Gland Cancer (PDQ): Treatment
(National Cancer Institute) - http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/salivarygland/patient
Also available in Spanish http://www.cancer.gov/espanol/pdq/tratamiento/glandulasalival/patient/
- What Causes Salivary Gland Cancer?(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/content/cri_2_2_2x_what_causes_salivary_gland_cancer_can_it_be_prevented_54.asp?sitearea=cri
- Dry Mouth or Thick Saliva(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/MBC/content/MBC_6_2X_Dry_Mouth_or_Thick_Saliva.asp?sitearea=MBC
- Salivary Gland Cancer: Moving on After Treatment(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/content/cri_2_2_6x_what_happens_after_treatment_54.asp?sitearea=cri
- Mucocele(Columbia University Medical Center, School of Dental & Oral Surgery) - http://www.simplestepsdental.com/SS/ihtSS/r.WSIHW000/st.32219/t.25033/pr.3.html
- Salivary Gland Cancer(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/salivary-gland-cancer/DS00708/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
- Sialadenitis(Columbia University Medical Center, School of Dental & Oral Surgery) - http://www.simplestepsdental.com/SS/ihtSS/r.WSIHW000/st.32219/t.34879/pr.3.html
- Sialoliths(Columbia University Medical Center, School of Dental & Oral Surgery) - http://www.simplestepsdental.com/SS/ihtSS/r.WSIHW000/st.32219/t.34882/pr.3.html
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Dry Mouth (Xerostomia)(National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) - http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/OralHealth/Topics/DryMouth/DryMouth.htm
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Advances in Parotidectomy and Minimally Invasive Thyroidectomy Procedures(OR-Live) - Requires Flash Player - One hour program - 7/30/2008 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/nlm-flash/ens_2312/rnh.cfm?id=759
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Advances in Parotidectomy and Thyroidectomy Surgery(OR-Live) - Requires Flash Player - One hour program - 12/11/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/nlm-flash/ens_1882/rnh.cfm?id=669
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Parotid Diseases(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Parotid+Diseases%22
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Salivary Gland Diseases(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Salivary+Gland+Diseases%22
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: London's catch-up vaccination campaign against measles, mumps, and rubella reaches... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18815174&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Pathology quiz case 1. Schwannoma with ancient change. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18794451&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Metastasizing pleomorphic adenoma of the salivary gland. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18788859&tool=MedlinePlus
- Salivary Gland Disorders -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=salivary+gland+diseases[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- salivary glands - http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v:project=medlineplus&binning-state=group%3d%3dMedical%20Encyclopedia&query=salivary+glands
- Find an Otolaryngologist (ENT)(American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery) - http://www.entnet.org//findanentmore.cfm
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National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research - http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/
- How Many People Get Salivary Gland Cancer?(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_1X_How_many_people_get_salivary_gland_cancer_54.asp?rnav=cri
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What's Spit?(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/yucky/spit.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/kid/en_espanol/preguntas/spit_esp.html
- Mumps - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mumps.html
- Sjogren's Syndrome - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/sjogrenssyndrome.html
- Mouth and Teeth - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mouthandteeth.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Salivary Gland Disorders is the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research - http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/