Oral cavity

Dr Saravanan Jagadeesan MBBS, MS, PhD

Associate Professor in Anatomy
School of Medicine, Taylors University
Oral cavity
(Mouth cavity)

2 parts
• Vestibule
• Oral cavity proper
Opening – oral fissure
• Bound by lips
 Lips
• Form boundary of oral fissure
• Externally – lined by skin
• Internally – mucous membrane
• Muco-cutaneous junction –
between skin & mucous
membrane
• Upper lips belong to dangerous
area of the face
 Cheeks
• Form large part of side of face
• Starts from naso-labial furrow
• Consist of
• Skin
• Superficial fascia with facial
muscles (Z. major & minor)
• Buccinator with
buccopharyngeal fascia
• Parotid duct
• Buccal pad of fat
 Vestibule
• Narrow space
• Between
• lips & cheek
• Teeth & gums
• Mucosa contains
mucous secreting
small buccal glands

• Key features
• Opening of parotid
duct
• Frenulum of lips
 Oral cavity proper
• Boundaries
• Anterolaterally – teeth and gums
• Superiorly (roof) – hard & soft
palate
• Inferiorly (Floor) – mylohyoid
muscle
• Communicates with pharynx
through oropharyngeal
isthmus
• Sublingual region – area below
the tongue
• Main content - tongue
Oral cavity proper – oropharyngeal isthumus

Boundaries

•Superior – soft
palate
•Inferior – dorsum
of tongue
•Lateral –
palatoglossal fold
 Hard palate
• Bony structure
• Forms partition
between oral cavity &
nasal cavity
• Forms roof of oral
cavity and floor
• Present between the
maxillary alveolar arch
Hard palate - formation

Anterior 2/3rd –
palatine process
of maxilla

Posterior 1/3rd –
horizontal plate
of palatine bone
 Hard palate – blood & nerve supply
• Greater palatine A branch
Artery of maxillary A

• Pass through pterygoid

Vein venous plexus

• Greater palatine &

Nerves nasopalatine N branches of
pterygopalatine ganglion
Hard palate – applied anatomy
• Cleft palate
• Perforation (seen in tertiary
syphilis)
 Soft palate
• It’s a muscular structure
• Attached to the posterior border
of hard palate
• Separates the nasopharynx and
oropharynx
• Features
• Anterior (oral) surface
• Posterior surface
• Inferior border
• Uvula
• Arches – palatoglossal (anterior
pillar of fauces) &
palatopharyngeal (posterior pillar
of fauces)
 Soft palate - structure
• Mucous membrane
• Palatine aponeurosis (flattened
tendon of tensor veli palatini
muscle)
• This aponeurosis splits to
enclose the musculus uvulae in
the midline
• Muscles attaching to palatine
aponeurosis
• Levator veli palatini
• Palatopharyngeus
• Palatoglossus
Soft palate – muscles – tensor veli palatini
• Origin
• scaphoid fossa, lateral side of
auditory tube, greater wing of
sphenoid
• Insertion
• Forms aponeurosis after
winding around the pterygoid
humulus and joins with the
aponeurosis from opposite side
• Into the posterior border of
hard palate
• Action: tenses the soft palate,
opens the auditory tube
Soft palate – muscles – levator veli palatini

• Origin
• Inferior surface of petrous
part of temporal bone
• Insertion
• Upper surface of palatine
aponeurosis
• Action: elevates the soft
palate
Soft palate – muscles – musculus uvulae

• Its paired muscle

• Present in midline
• Covered by splitting of
palatine aponeurosis
• Origin: posterior nasal spine
• Insertion: mucous
membrane of uvula
• Action: elevates the uvula
 Soft palate – muscles – palatoglossus
• Origin: lower surface of
palatine aponeurosis
• Insertion: sides of
tongue
• Action: elevation of
tongue
• Features
• The mucous membrane
covering this muscle
forms palatoglossal fold
/ arch
Soft palate – muscles – palatopharyngeus
• Origin: superior surface of
palatine aponeurosis
• Insertion: posterior border of
lamina of thyroid cartilage
• Action: elevation of pharynx
• Features
• The mucous membrane covering
this muscle forms palatopharyngeal
fold / arch
• Passavant’s ridge (palatopharyngeal
sphincter of Whillis) – some fibers
form “U” shaped sling around the
pharynx. It appears as elevation
Soft palate – nerve supply

General
sensation
Palatine nerves Glossopharyngeal N

Taste Lesser palatine nerves – to greater petrosal

sensation nerve to nucleus tractus solitarius

Lesser palatine nerves – fibers from superior

Secretomotor
salivatory nucleus
ALL MUSCLES of soft palate are supplied
by PHARYGEAL PLEXUS except TENSOR
VELI PALATINI which supplied by
MANDIBULAR NERVE
 Elevation: closes
Closes the
the nasopharynx
oropharynx
during
during chewing
swallowing
Soft palate –
movements Passage of
secretions is
guided
Assist in speech • Through nasal and
oral cavity during
sneezing
• Through oral cavity
during coughing