If you happen to scrape your finger, do not put a plaster on the wound – lick on it instead.

It is now scientifically proven that the mucus in saliva actually helps to heal wounds faster.

A new study shows that when inflammation occurs, a variety of white blood cells form in the mouth, contained in mucous.

The mucus then stimulates white blood cells to effectively kill bacteria by creating a network of white blood cells.

That a network of white blood cells kills bacteria is not new, that was discovered about ten years ago.

But what is new is that this “network” of white blood cells is stimulated by the mucus to be much better at killing germs than what have previously been known.

The mucus essentially helps to create effective networks of DNA and proteins that may be important for the healing effects of saliva.

The study has been published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Blood.

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A novel mechanism for NETosis provides antimicrobial defense at the oral mucosa
Tirthankar Mohanty1, Jonathan Sjögren1, Fredrik Kahn1, Anas H. A. Abu-Humaidan1, Niels Fisker2, Kristian Assing3, Matthias Mörgelin1, Anders A. Bengtsson4, Niels Borregaard5, and Ole E. Sørensen1
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