Fly larvae that feed on dead tissue can clean wounds and may reduce bacterial activity and the chance of a secondary infection. They dissolve dead tissue by secreting digestive enzymes onto the wound as well as actively eating the dead tissue with mouth hooks, two hard, probing appendages protruding on either side of the "mouth". Maggot therapyalso known as maggot debridement therapy (MDT), larval therapy, larva therapy, or larvae therapyis the intentional introduction by a health care practitioner of live, disinfected green bottle fly maggots into the non-healing skin and soft tissue wounds of a human or other animal for the purpose of selectively cleaning out only the necrotic tissue within a wound in order to promote healing.