Oral Cavity

Objectives:Describe the boundaries of the oral cavity.

Describe the normal anatomical structures of the oral cavity.

Describe teeth and their structure.

Describe the tongue and its structure.

Understand the innervation of the oral cavity.

The roof of the oral cavity consists of the hard and soft palates.

The floor is formed of a muscular diaphragm and the tongue.

The lateral walls (cheeks) formed by buccinator muscle, coverd by skin & lined by mucosa.

The oropharyngeal isthmus opens into the oropharynx.

The oral cavity is separated into two regions:1- The outer oral vestibule.2- the inner oral cavity proper.

The tongue is a muscular structure that forms part of the floor of the oral cavity and part of the anterior wall of the oropharynx.

The superior surface of the oral part of the tongue is covered by papillae.

The inferior surface lacks papillae, but have mucosal folds.

A single median fold (the frenulum of tongue) is continuous with the mucosa of the floor of the oral cavity.

The pharyngeal surface of the tongue is irregular due to nodules of lymphoid tissue (the lingual tonsil).

There are no papillae on the pharyngeal surface.

The superior surface of the oral part of the tongue is covered by papillae. The inferior surface lacks papillae, but have mucosal folds. A single median fold (the frenulum of tongue) is continuous with the mucosa of the floor of the oral cavity. On each side of the frenulum is a lingual vein. The mucosa of the pharyngeal surface of the tongue is irregular because of the nodules of lymphoid tissue in the submucosa (the lingual tonsil). There are no papillae on the pharyngeal surface.

There are intrinsic and extrinsic lingual muscles. The intrinsic muscles of the tongue originate and insert within the substance of the tongue.

They are divided into superior longitudinal, inferior longitudinal, transverse, and vertical muscles, and they alter the shape of the tongue.

Working in pairs or one side at a time the intrinsic muscles of the tongue contribute to precision movements of the tongue required for speech, eating, and swallowing.

Extrinsic muscles of the tongue originate from structures outside the tongue and insert into the tongue.

There are four major extrinsic muscles on each side, the genioglossus, hyoglossus, styloglossus, and palatoglossus.

These muscles protrude, retract, depress, and elevate the tongue.

Except for the palatoglossus, which is innervated by the vagus nerve [X], all muscles of the tongue are innervated by the hypoglossal nerve [XII].

The Teeth:The teeth are collectively called the dentition.

Adults normally have 16 teeth in the mandible and 16 in the maxilla.

On each side of the midline, there are two incisors, a canine,two premolars, and three molars in each jaw.

The incisors are chisel-like cutting teeth used to bite off a piece of food. The canines are more pointed and act to puncture and shred it. The

premolars and molars have relatively broad surfaces adapted to crushing and grinding.

Twenty deciduous teeth (milk teeth or baby teeth) erupt from the ages of 6 to 30 months, beginning with the incisors.

Between 6 and 25 years of age, these are replaced by the 32 permanent teeth.

Human Deciduous and Permanent Teeth

Structure of Tooth

Thank You