Anatomy week 1:

Oral cavity:
Inferior to nasal cavities, opens onto face by oral fissures and continuous with pharynx at
oropharyngeal isthmus
- Roof: hard and soft palates
- Floor: soft tissues (muscular diaphragm and tongue)
- Lateral walls: cheeks muscular
- Anterior: lips surrounding oral fissure
- Posterior: oropharyngeal isthmus
Oral cavity separated to 2 regions by upper and lower dental arches (teeth+alveolar bones)
- Oral vestibule: lower btw dental arches and cheeks and lips (oral fissure opens here and is
controlled by facial expressions muscles)
- Oral cavity proper upper enclosed by dental arches at the back has oropharynx isth
Oral cavity functions:
- site of digestion by salivary gland secretion
- Manipulates larynx sounds and speech
- Breathing
Nerves innervating oral cavity:
Sensory is by branches of trigeminal nerve V:
- Upper oral cavity: maxillary
- Lower oral cavity: mandibular
- Taste (ant 2/3 of tongue) by facial nerve with V
- Parasymp fibers to oral cavity glands by facial nerve and V
- Symp fibers from T1 nerves (superior cervical symp ganglion)
Motor:
- Tongue: hypoglossal except palatoglossus muscle by vagus nerve X
- Soft palate: vagus except tensor veli palatini: mandibular
- Mylohyoid (muscle making up floor of oral cavity): mandibular
Skeletal framework:
- Paired: maxillae, palatine, temporal bones
- Unpaired: mandible, sphenoid and hyoid bones
Cartilaginous parts of pharyngotympanic tubes att muscles of soft palate
Maxillae:
Form roof of oral cavity and has:
- Palatine process a horizontal shelf forming ant 2/3 of hard palate and joined by
intermaxillary suture (has an incisive fossa ant. And 2 canals for passage of greater
palatine vessels and nasopalatine nerves)
- Alveolar process
Palatine:
Has a horizontal plate and a pyramidal process that form roof of oral cavity. The horizontal is
joined to the palatine process of maxilla ant and to its partner medially.
- Posterior nasal spine formed btw 2 horizontal plates and projects back and att. Soft palate
- Greater palatine foramen in the horizontal plate transmits greater palatine nerve and
vessels to palate (inferior opening of palatine canal)
Pyramidal process is post. Fills gaps btw medial and lateral plates of pterygoid process of
sphenoid bone
- Has lesser palatine foramen (inf. opening of short lesser palatine canal) transmits lesser
palatine nerve and vessels
Sphenoid:
The pterygoid processes and spines participate in forming roof of oral cavity. The pterygoid
processes descend each having medial and lateral parts and the gap btw them is filled by
pyramidal process of palatine bone.
From the medial plate a hook-shaped structure protrudes called pterygoid humulus:
- Pulley for tensor veli palatini muscle of soft palate
- Att site of upper end of pterygomandibular raphe
Scaphoid fossa: att of tensor veli palatini
Temporal:
- Styloid process: att of tongue muscles
o Att to hyoid bone by stylohyoid ligament
- Inferior petrous part: att of soft palate
Cartilaginous part of pharyngotympanic tube:
The inferolateral wall is called membranous lamina where tensor veli palatini is att.
Mandible:
Bone of lower jaw contains a body at right and left fused by mandibular symphysis. The body
bears the alveolar arch anchoring lower teeth. Posterior to symphysis there are superior and
inferior mental spines (att sites for muscles passing into tongue and muscles connecting
mandible to hyoid bone)
Mylohyoid line: extends from midline to last molar tooth.
- Anteriorly has a depression called sublingual fossa
- Posteriorly: submandibular fossa
- Above the line and below last molar tooth a groove for lingual nerve
- Immediately behind last molar tooth a retromolar triangle
Mandibular foramen: passage of transmission of inferior alveolar nerve and vessels
Hyoid bone:
Small u-shaped bone in neck btw larynx and mandible. It has body and 2 great horns, 2 lesser
horns. It connects floor of oral cavity with pharynx and larynx
Walls: the cheeks:
Cheek consists of fascia, skeletal muscle (buccinator muscle) which has skin externally and oral
mucosa internally
Buccinator:
- Muscle of facial expression
- Posterior margin joined to ant margin of sup constrictor muscle by pterygomandibular
raphe
o Both provide continuity btw walls of oral and pharyngeal cavities
- Origin: pterygomandibular raphe, alveolar part of mandible, alveolar process of maxilla
- Insertion: modiolus (connective tissue btw muscles of lips and cheeks)
- Function: holds cheeks against alveolar arches and keeps food btw teeth when chewing
- Innervation: buccal branch of facial nerve
- Innervation of sensation from skin and oral mucosa of cheeks by buccal branch of
mandibular nerve
Floor of oral cavity:
Formed by 3 structures:
- Muscular diaphragm: fills the u gap btw sides of body of mandible and is composed of
paired mylohyoid muscles
- 2 geniohyoid muscles above the diaphragm from mandible to hyoid bone
- Tongue above geniohyoid muscles
also salivary glands and ducts largest: sublingual gland and oral part of submandibular gld
mylohyoid muscles:
2 triangular muscles forming muscular diaphragm
- Structural support to floor
- Elevating and pulling forward hyoid bone and larynx during swallowing
- Depress mandible and open mouth when hyoid fixed
Innervation: mandibular nerve, nerve to mylohyoid from inf alveolar nerve
Geniohyoid muscles:
- Paired cord-like muscles
- Origin: inferior mental spines
- Insertion: ant surface of body of hyoid bone
- Function: pull the hyoid bone and larynx up and forward when swallowing
- Depress the mandible and open mouth when hyoid fixed
- Innervation: branch of cervical nerve c1
Getaway into the floor of oral cavity:
Oropharyngeal triangle: formed by margins of mylohyoid, superior and middle constrictor
muscles of pharynx. Structures in upper neck and infratemporal fossa pass to oral cavity
- Muscles (hyoglossus, styloglossus)
- Vessels (lingual artery and vein)
- Nerves (lingual, hypoglossal, glossopharyngeal)
- Lymphatics
- Submandibular gland
Tongue:
- Muscular structure in floor of oral cavity.
- Apex: sits behind incisor teeth.
- Root: att to mandible and hyoid
- Superior oral surface or ant. 2/3 in horizontal plane
- Pharyngeal surface or post 1/3 in vertical
Separated by terminal sulcus of tongue (V) at its apex a foramen cecum of tongue
Papillae:
- Filiform papillae: cone-shaped in middle
- Fungiform papillae: rounded along margins
- Vallate papillae: largest 8-12 in v-shape ant to terminal sulcus of tongue
- Foliate papillae: linear folds on sides of tongue near terminal sulcus
They increase area of contact btw tongue And contents. All have taste buds except filiform
Inferior surface of tongue:
Lacks papillae but have linear mucosal folds. Single median fold (frenulum of tongue) which has
on each side a lingual vein and overlies the median sagittal septum which divides the tongue to
right and left halves and a lateral fimbriated fold
Pharyngeal surface:
Lacks papillae but has lingual tonsils which are nodules of lymphoid tissue in submucosa
Muscles:
All muscles are paired and have intrinsic and extrinsic lingual muscles. All innervated by
hypoglossal nerve XII except palatoglossus innervated by vagus nerve X.

Intrinsic origin and insertion from tongue while extrinsic origin outside tongue. Extrinsic change
position while intrinsic change shape while swallowing and talking.
Vessels:
Arteries:
Major artery is lingual artery which originates from external carotid artery supplies the muscles
of the tongue plus sublingual gland, gingiva and oral mucosa in floor of oral cavity
Veins:
Tongue is drained by dorsal lingual and deep lingual veins which are visible on mucosa of
undersurface of tongue and both join internal jugular vein in neck.
Innervation:
Glossopharyngeal nerve:
- Carries taste and general sensation from pharyngeal part post 1/3
- Leaves skull by jugular foramen
- Taste and general sensation from vallate papillae
Lingual nerve:
- General sensory innervation from ant 2/3 or oral part
- Branch of mandibular nerve
- General sensation from mucosa on floor of oral cavity and gingiva of lower teeth
- Parasympathetic and taste fibers from oral part that are Part of facial nerve
Facial nerve:
- Carries taste from oral part to CNS
- Special sensory fibers of facial nerve leave tongue by lingual nerve then enter chorda
tympani nerve (branch of facial) that joins lingual in infratemporal fossa
Hypoglossal nerve:
- Leaves skull by hypoglossal canal and innervates all muscle except palato
- Near hyoglossus muscle forms 2 branches
o Thyrohyoid branch innervates thyrohyoid muscle
o Branch to geniohyoid

Lymphatics:
all drain to deep cervical chain of nodes and internal jugular vein:
- Pharyngeal part drains to jugulodigastric node of deep cervical chain
- Oral part directly to deep cervical nodes and indirectly to them by passing first into
submental and submandibular nodes
Salivary glands:
- Glands located in submucosa or mucosa of oral epithelium and open or secrete to oral
cavity by ducts
- Larger ones: paired parotid, submandibular and sublingual
Parotid:
Outside the oral cavity and formed by
- Post: sternocleidomastoid muscle
- Ant: ramus of mandible
- Sup: external acoustic meatus and zygomatic arch
Encloses:
 - External carotid artery
- Retromandibular vein
- facial nerve
supply: branches of external carotid artery
veins: drain to external jugular vein
lymph: superficial and deep cervical nodes
submandibular:
- smaller than parotid and larger than sublingual, hook-shaped
- larger arm is outside oral cavity (superficial)
- small arm which is deep is in oral cavity
- submandibular duct under the tongue emerges from deep part of gland and opens on
small sublingual caruncle beside frenulum of tongue
- supply: branches of facial and sublingual arteries
- drain to lingual and facial veins
- lymph: submandibular nodes then deep cervical nodes (jugulo-omohyoid node)
sublingual:
- smallest ones and located lateral to submandibular and sublingual nerve
- forms sublingual fold extends from posterior aspect to the frenulum
- drains by minor sublingual ducts and major one that opens with that of submandib
- supply: branches of facial and sublingual arteries
- drain to lingual and facial veins
- lymph: submandibular nodes then deep cervical nodes (jugulo-omohyoid node)
innervation:
parasympathetic:
- salivary: branches of facial nerve which join branches of maxillary and mandibular
- parotid: glossopharyngeal nerve which then join mandibular nerve
greater petrosal nerve:
- branch of facial nerve innervates salivary glands above oral fissure and mucus glands in
nose and lacrimal gland (parasym)
chorda tympani:
- parasym fibers branch of facial innervating glands in floor and lower lip and tongue and
submandibular and sublingual below oral fissure
sympathetic:
- from spinal cord T1 to salivary glands