Oral cavity: anatomy, structure and function, diagram, departments, what kind of environment

The oral cavity has many functions.

One of the most important is the primary processing of food that enters the food tract.

The structure and functions of the oral cavity are important for normal human life and represent an interesting world with its own environment and characteristics.

Organs and mucous membranes

The oral cavity is the starting point of the anterior digestive system.

In the photo, a diagram of the structure of the mouth and oral cavity of a person:

The human mouth is divided into the following sections:

1. Vestibule - located in the area of ​​the lips, cheeks and gums.
2. The main cavity is the area of ​​the teeth and alveolar processes. The mouth area contains the hard and soft palate, as well as the diaphragm, which houses the tongue.

The mouth is the beginning of the digestion process, contains a large number of salivary glands and mucous membranes.

The anatomy of the oral cavity, first of all, begins with the organs that are located in it.

Lips

The structure of the lips is quite simple, but the functions are very important for digestion and communication.

The lips are two muscles that are subdivided into upper and lower. Externally, the lips are covered with thin skin, which gradually forms a mucous membrane. Lips go into gums, forming bridles of the upper and lower type.

In the process of digestion, with the help of the lips, a person captures food. Lips are also necessary for the pronunciation of sounds.

Lip anatomy:

Teeth and gums

There are two rows of teeth in the mouth area.

The name of the teeth in the mouth determines their types:

• indigenous (small and big);
• fangs;
• incisors.

The teeth are placed in special holes in the jawbone, they consist of the following sections:

• crown (visible part of the tooth);
• neck (located under the gum);
• root part.

The composition includes dentine and durable enamel, which allows you to chew food without damaging the tooth itself.

The teeth are surrounded by a mucous membrane called the gum. The gums are subdivided into the following sections:

• the area located directly around the tooth;
• nipple, located between the teeth;
• part of the shell, attached to the periosteum.

The teeth and gums are an associated apparatus that is responsible for the process of chewing food and secreting saliva.

A person, depending on the period of growing up, appears baby teeth, which fall out by a certain age, and, of course, are permanent, which do not have properties for regeneration.

The dentition in childhood contains 20 teeth, namely 8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 molars. In an adult, the number of molars increases, the dentition contains from 28 to 32 teeth.

This difference is due to the presence or absence of wisdom teeth. For many people, they do not erupt at all.

All about the structure of teeth is described in separate articlelike about anatomy of the upper and lower jaw.

Cheeks

The muscles that are externally covered with skin and inside the mucous membrane are called the cheeks. The salivary glands are located under the mucous membrane, which gradually pass into the large parotid glands. There is a fatty layer under the outer layer of the epidermis on the cheeks, which can be more pronounced in childhood.

The main functions of the cheeks are:

• preservation of the necessary microflora in the mouth;
• thorough chewing of food;
• connective function in the muscular system of the face.

Cheeks are responsible for facial expressions and external features of a person's face.

Tongue, bridle, sky

The strongest and most mobile part inside the mouth is language. On its surface there are papillae that allow you to determine the taste. The entire area of ​​the tongue is subdivided into the tip, body and root, which is located near the pharynx. The most important functions of the tongue are chewing and moving food to the pharynx, as well as forming the sounds that make up speech.

At the bottom of the tongue is a mucous membrane that forms the bridle. On both sides of the frenum are salivary glands, which secrete the necessary amount of fluid to process food and move it into the esophagus.

On top of the mouth is the palate, which is divided into several types:

1. Soft palate - located near the pharynx and outwardly resembles a fold on which the tongue is located, which contributes to the formation of sounds. The tonsils are located between the palate and pharynx. The main properties of the soft palate are the swallowing of food.
2. The hard palate is located in the upper region above the tongue and consists of the palatine bones, which are covered with a layer of mucous membrane. In the middle of the palate, the palatal suture is located, it is a small light strip, from which small folds extend.

The tongue and palate occupies a large area inside the mouth and are one of the main parts necessary for the digestive process.

Palate structure:

The mouth is covered inside mucous, which protects the surface of organs from damage and exposure to microorganisms. If damaged, it quickly recovers. The entire area of ​​the mucosa is covered with small glands that secrete saliva.

Muscle

Around the mouth are muscles that allow the mouth to move and perform various functions, including chewing food.

Oral muscles are classified into two groups:

1. Circular muscle - with the help of muscle tissue, the oral gap expands and narrows. Consists of small tufts that go to the lips.
2. Muscles that are located radially to the mouth. This group should include:

• lowering the corner of the lips;
• muscle that lowers the lower lip;
• chin muscle tissue;
• buccal;
• muscle tissue that raises and lowers the upper lip;
• muscles of the cheekbones;
• laughing muscles.

All muscles in the mouth area are interconnected and, when functioning, tend to complement each other.

In the photo, the muscles of the oral region:

The many muscles located between the tongue and the hyoid bone form the floor of the mouth, or the diaphragm.

Glands

The mouth contains glands that secrete saliva. They are subdivided into small and large. The former are located on the cheeks, palate and lips, and produce mixed saliva.

The sublingual glands, located in the soft palate, produce low acid saliva, while the paired parotids, which are among the largest, produce a segment of high acidity.

The saliva secreted from the glands will speed up the process of breaking down food into smaller particles, facilitate the process of chewing and promoting food for further processing.

Blood supply to the maxillofacial area

The blood supply is carried out through the branching of blood vessels that are diverted from the external carotid artery.

The blood supply to the teeth is carried out using the branches of the jaw artery.

Innervation (supply of nerves) is carried out by the trigeminal and facial nerves. The trigeminal nerve is divided into three branches: the orbital, maxillary, and mandibular nerves.

What is the environment in the mouth

There must be a certain acid-base balance (pH) in the mouth.

The acidity of mixed human saliva is normally 6.8–7.4 pH; at a high salivation rate, it can reach 7.8pH.

It is these indicators that allow you to keep all parts of the oral cavity healthy.

Violation of microflora contributes to the formation of various diseases and the reproduction of harmful microorganisms.

Most often, acidity rises in the mouth, which negatively affects the health of the teeth and gums. To maintain the necessary environment, it is necessary to observe hygiene and eat foods rich in fluorine and calcium.

Functions

The functions of the oral cavity are subdivided into digestive and non-digestive. The main ones are shown in the table.

Digestive functions	Non-digestive functions
Breakdown of food into carbohydrates	Formation of sounds
Chopping food and pushing it down the throat	Respiratory
With the help of saliva, the formation of a lump of food	Protective
Elimination of harmful microorganisms	Isolation of certain metabolites, heavy metal salts and other substances
Analysis of the taste of products	Expression of a person's emotional state (lips)
Activation of irritation of the glands of the digestive system

Developmental anomalies

The anatomy of the oral cavity in some people is not the same as usual, which is associated with developmental abnormalities.

Anomaly	Peculiarities	Correction methods
Cleft palate	Incomplete fusion of the upper jaw processes. Most often, with such an anomaly, there is difficulty breathing, frequent colds.	Eliminated only by surgery
Hare lip	Non-union of the upper jaw bone and nasal cavity. Outwardly manifests itself as a cleft lip. Women who abused bad habits during the period of bearing a child most often give birth to babies with such an anomaly	Eliminated only with plastic surgery
Macrostomy	It is manifested by an excessively wide mouth gap	Surgery is used to correct the abnormality
Not overgrowing the gap between the jaw processes of the branchial arch	Manifested by the absence of the upper palate, refers to congenital malformations	Surgical intervention
Microheilia	Very small lips	Operation
Macrodentia	Excessively large sizes of one, several or all teeth	Treatment depends on the severity of the disorder. Some teeth may be removed with subsequent orthodontic treatment.
Hutchinson's teeth	Systemic hypoplasia enamels and dentin. The size and shape of dental crowns change.	Elimination of the root cause of the pathology (most often it is syphilis). Besides, treatment is aimed at the reconstruction of enamel, restoration of dental crowns and the elimination of cosmetic defects.

These are just some of the abnormalities, as a result of which the structure of the mouth and its cavity changes greatly. Anomalies are most often congenital in nature and require the intervention of specialists at an early age, otherwise it may be difficult to carry out the treatment procedure.