Mouth Wounds Heal the Fastest
Don’t you hate it when you bite your tongue or scrape your inner cheek? Ever wonder why the wounds in your mouth heal faster than those elsewhere? Scientists have always postulated the important role of saliva in healing, but the mechanism was never known. Recently, it was discovered that a salivary peptide called histatin-1 had a profound effect on angiogenesis (blood vessel formation), which is a crucial part of the healing process! In the future, this knowledge could be used in other body systems to speed up patient care and recovery.