5 ms·
I would have just assumed that the major factor is that your mouth is full of fast-dividing cells. In short, the lining of your mouth is constantly replacing it
by IntronExon 9y ago
I would have just assumed that the major factor is that your mouth is full of fast-dividing cells. In short, the lining of your mouth is constantly replacing itself, which is great for injury (and withstanding enzymatic action of saliva), but it’s also why chemotherapy causes so many problems in the mouth and GI tract.
- ganonm 9y agoAgreed, and presumably there's evolutionary factors here too. If you can't eat you die - having a wound in your mouth that reduces your ability to eat is not good, so there must be strong selective pressures for tissues that can regenerate rapidly. I guess the selective force in the opposite direction might be the caloric demands of healing, hence why we don't regenerate too rapidly.
- twic 9y agoThat, and the blood supply. The inside of my mouth is a sort of lurid pink, because all the tissues are packed with capillaries. Meanwhile, my skin is a barely pinkish off-white, because what blood vessels there are are deep below layers of cells and connective tissue.