The production of saliva in conscious humans is under the control of the higher centers of the brain. This is a process that is upregulated by an autonomic reflex in response to taste, chewing, and smell. The higher centers of the brain maintain the resting rate of salivary secretion which, in most healthy subjects, is sufficient to maintain oral health and perform the functions of the mouth such as speaking, swallowing, and preventing the over-growth of microbial colonies on oral tissues. When asleep the same higher centers reduce their neural output leading to very low salivary flow which prevents choking or aspiration of saliva into the lungs leading to pneumonia. An understanding of this complex control of salivary secretion is particularly important for the regeneration of the salivary glands and their function. Stem cell treatments to replace salivary tissue are an impressive first step but the new tissue needs to be under neural control. Inappropriate salivary secretion can be just as much a problem as insufficient salivary flow, as demonstrated by drooling in stroke patients and patients on certain antipsychotic medications who “drown” in their saliva at night.