From Giulia Enders, Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ
Mucins are proteins that form the main constituent of mucus. They help provide hours of fascination and fun for young children who have just found out they can blow bubbles with their own spit. A more useful function is their ability to envelop our teeth and gums in a protective mucin net. We shoot them out of our salivary papillae like Spider-Man shoots webs from his wrists. These microscopic nets can catch bacteria before they have a chance to harm us. While the bad bacteria are caught in the net, antibacterial substances in our saliva can kill them off.
What is the mucin net the author refers to? No result is found when googling it.