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Anatomy of Tongue
Anatomy of Tongue
Interna tional Jo urna l o f M ultidisciplina ry Research and Develo pment 2014 ; 1 (7 ): 12 4-125
Ratnakar P Introduction
Professor, Dept. of OMDR, The mucosa over the tongue is normally pink and moist. The root of the tongue is attached to
Career Post-Graduate Institute
of Dental Sciences, Lucknow the hyoid bone and the mandible and in between them it is in contact inferiorly with the
geniohyoid and the mylohyoid muscles.1,2 The dorsum of the tongue is divided into an
Arti Saluja Sachdev anterior part facing upwards and posterior part facing posteriorly, a V shaped sulcus
Senior Lecturer, Dept. of terminalis separates these. Hence the anterior part is called the presulcal or oral or papillary
OMDR, Career Post-Graduate part and the posterior part is called the post sulcal or pharangeal or glandular part. The limbs
Institute of Dental Sciences,
Lucknow of the sulcus run anteriolaterally and form a median foramen caecum (from where the thyroid
has its origin) and end with the palatoglossal arches.3
Vasu Saxena
Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Papillae of the tongue
OMDR, Career Post-Graduate These are the projections of lamina propria which elevate the epithelium and gives the
Institute of Dental Sciences,
Lucknow
anterior two third of the tongue its characteristic roughness. These are of five types: valllate,
fungiform, filiform, foliate & papillae simplices.4
Taseer Bashir
Post Graduate student, Dept. Muscles of the tongue5
of OMDR, Career Post- The tongue is divided into right and left halves by a median fibrous septum. Each half
Graduate Institute of Dental
Sciences, Lucknow
contains two sets of muscles, which are intrinsic and extrinsic.
Alteration of shape
The transverse muscle narrows the tongue and consequently heaps the dorsum into a side-to-
side convexity. With simultaneous contraction of the vertical muscle this convexity is
Correspondence:
flattened and since the total volume of the tongue remains constant, the organ becomes
Taseer Bashir elongated and pointed at the tip, if now the lowest fibers of geniglossous contract the back of
Post Graduate student, Dept. the tongue is extruded. Contraction of longitudinal fibers shortens the tongue, which then
of OMDR, Career Post- becomes concave from front to back. Contraction of the vertical fibers produces a midline
Graduate Institute of Dental groove with consequent heaping up of the sides of the tongue as in the first stage of
Sciences, Lucknow
swallowing.6
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International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development
Conclusion
The knowledge of normal anatomy of tongue and associated
structures is of significance as until and unless we know
what is normal, we can’t differentiate pathological changes.
This review article presented a short note on the anatomy and
applied aspects of tongue.
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