The Lips

• These are mobile muscular folds that surround the mouth, the entrance of the oral cavity.

• The lips (L. labia) are covered externally by skin and internally by mucous membrane.
• In between these are layers of muscles, especially the orbicularis oris muscle.

• The upper and lower lips are attached to the gingivae in the median plane by raised folds of mucous membrane, called the labial frenula.

Sensory Nerves of the Lips

• The sensory nerves of the upper and lower lips are from the infraorbital and mental nerves, which are branches of the maxillary (CN V²) and mandibular (CN V³) nerves.

Structure of the Nasal Septum

• This part bony, part cartilaginous septum divides the chamber of the nose into two narrow nasal cavities.
• The bony part of the septum is usually located in the median plane until age 7; thereafter, it often deviates to one side, usually the right.

• The nasal septum has three main components: (1) the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid bone; (2) the vomer, and (3) the septal cartilage.

• The perpendicular plate, which forms the superior part of the septum, is very thin and descends from the cribiform plate of the ethmoid bone.
• The vomer, which forms the posteroinferior part of the septum, is a thin, flat bone. It articulates with the sphenoid, maxilla and palatine bones.

The Masseter Muscle

• This is a quadrangular muscle that covers the lateral aspect of the ramus and the coronoid process of the mandible.

• Origin: inferior border and medial surface of zygomatic arch.
• Insertion: lateral surface of ramus of mandible and its coronoid process.
• Innervation: mandibular nerve via masseteric nerve that enters its deep surface.

• It elevates and protrudes the mandible, closes the jaws and the deep fibres retrude it.

The Submandibular Glands

• Each of these U-shaped salivary glands is about the size of a thumb and lies along the body of the mandible.
• It is partly superior and partly inferior to the posterior 1/2 of the base of the mandible.
• It is partly superficial and partly deep to the mylohyoid muscle.

• The submandibular duct arises from the portion of the gland that lies between the mylohyoid and hyoglossus muscle.

• The duct passes deep and then superficial to the lingual nerve.
• It opens by one to three orifices on a small sublingual papilla beside the lingual frenulum.

• The submandibular gland is supplied by parasympathetic, secretomotor fibres from the submandibular ganglion (preganglionic fibres from the chorda tympani via the lingual nerve).

The Inferior Wall of the Orbit

• The thin inferior wall of the orbit or the floor is formed mainly by the orbital surface of the maxilla and partly by the zygomatic bone, and orbital process of the palatine bone.

• The floor of the orbit forms the roof of the maxillary sinus.

• The floor is partly separated from the lateral wall of the orbit by the inferior orbital fissure.

The Tongue

• The tongue (L. lingua; G. glossa) is a highly mobile muscular organ that can vary greatly in shape.
• It consists of three parts, a root, body, and tip.

• The tongue is concerned with mastication, taste, deglutition (swallowing), articulation (speech), and oral cleansing.
• Its main functions are squeezing food into the pharynx when swallowing, and forming words during speech.

Gross Features of the Tongue

• The dorsum of the tongue is divided by a V-shaped sulcus terminalis into anterior oral (presulcal) and posterior pharyngeal (postsulcal) parts.
• The apex of the V is posterior and the two limbs diverge anteriorly.
• The oral part forms about 2/3 of the tongue and the pharyngeal part forms about 1/3.

Oral Part of the Tongue

• This part is freely movable, but it is loosely attached to the floor of the mouth by the lingual frenulum.

• On each side of the frenulum is a deep lingual vein, visible as a blue line.
• It begins at the tip of the tongue and runs posteriorly.
• All the veins on one side of the tongue unite at the posterior border of the hyoglossus muscle to form the lingual vein, which joins the facial vein or the internal jugular vein.

• On the dorsum of the oral part of the tongue is a median groove.
• This groove represents the site of fusion of the distal tongue buds during embryonic development.

The Lingual Papillae and Taste Buds

• The filiform papillae (L. filum, thread) are numerous, rough, and thread-like.
• They are arranged in rows parallel to the sulcus terminalis.

• The fungiform papillae are small and mushroom-shaped.
• They usually appear are pink or red spots.

• The vallate (circumvallate) papillae are surrounded by a deep, circular trench (trough), the walls of which are studded with taste buds.

• The foliate papillae are small lateral folds of lingual mucosa that are poorly formed in humans.

• The vallate, foliate and most of the fungiform papillae contain taste receptors, which are located in the taste buds.

The Pharyngeal Part of the Tongue

• This part lies posterior to the sulcus terminalis and palatoglossal arches.
• Its mucous membrane has no papillae.

• The underlying nodules of lymphoid tissue give this part of the tongue a cobblestone appearance.
• The lymphoid nodules (lingual follicles) are collectively known as the lingual tonsil.