The stages of bedtime
We surely wonder what happens during our sleep. The sleep cycle is subdivided into 3 main phases: light slow sleep, deep slow sleep, and finally paradoxical sleep. The last phase is where our body fully relaxes and some brain functions disconnect, including the swallowing function. As a result, saliva accumulates in our mouth, hence drooling because the mouth can only hold a little saliva throughout sleep.
Saliva is by definition, a juice secreted by the salivary glands. It keeps our mouths moist. This role helps us to speak and swallow food and saliva also aids digestion due to the enzymes it is made up of. Note that the amount of saliva varies depending on the person and what they are doing. At rest, this quantity is 100 ml and while eating it increases 10 times more.
