Lecture 37 . The exact origin, and the controlling mechanisms of these cycles are not known, but it is speculated that they involve neurohormonal interactions. MMCs are interrupted by the ingestion of a new meal. The MMC is composed of 3 phases as illustrated below. Note also that, although osmolarity increases with rate of secretion, saliva remains hypotonic even at the highest rates of flow.
Salivary secretion is strictly reflex.
In spite of popular belief, the role of the conditioned reflex in eliciting salivation in humans, is very limited. Atropine is used in dental clinical practice to obtain a dry working field in the oral cavity. No hollow organs filled with viscid, putrid, malodorous ooze in my specialty. No boring mechanical pumps of blood, nor mushy whistling bellows . . . No, glands are discrete.