ORAL CAVITY

HARD & SOFT PALATE

Dr. Bashir Ahmed Shaikh

ORAL REGION
• The oral region includes:
- the oral cavity (mouth),
- teeth,
- gingivae (gums),
- tongue,
- palate, and
- the region of the palatine tonsils.
• Food is ingested & prepared in the oral cavity for the digestion in
stomach & small intestine.
• Food when chewed, the teeth & saliva from the salivary glands,
facilitate the formation of bolus (L. lump).
Oral Cavity
• The oral cavity (mouth) consists of two parts:
- Oral vestibule &
- Oral cavity proper.
• Oral vestibule communicate
with exterior through mouth.
• Size of oral fissure (opening)
is controlled by muscles such
as orbicularis oris (sphincter
of the oral fissure).
• Oral cavity proper, a space
post. & med. to upper &
lower dental arches.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
• It is limited lat. & ant. by maxillary & mandibular alveolar arches
housing the teeth.
• Roof of the oral cavity proper is formed by the palate.
• Post, the oral cavity communicates with the oropharynx, the oral
part of the pharynx.
• When the mouth is closed and at rest, the oral cavity is fully
occupied by the tongue.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
Oral Vestibule
• The oral vestibule is the slit-like space b/w;
- the lips & cheeks (superficially) and
- the teeth & gingivae (deeply).
• Lips, mobile, fleshy muscular folds surrounding mouth, contain
orbicularis oris & sup. & inf. labial muscles, vessels, & nerves.
• They are covered
externally by skin &
internally by mucous
membrane.
• Upper lip has vertical
groove, the philtrum.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
• Skin of lips near mouth changes color abruptly to red; this red
margin, vermillion border, a transitional zone b/w skin & m.m.
• Transitional zone is hairless & so thin that it appears red bcz of
the underlying capillary bed.
• Upper lip is supplied by sup. labial brs. of facial & infraorbital Aa.
• Lower lip is supplied
by inf. labial brs. of
facial & mental Aa.
• Upper lip is supplied
by sup. labial brs. of
infraorbital N (CN V2).
• Lower lip is supplied
by inf. labial brs. of
mental N (CN V3 ).
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
• Lymph from the upper lip & lateral parts of the lower lip passes
primarily to the submandibular lymph nodes, whereas lymph
from the medial part of lower lip passes initially to submental
lymph nodes.
• The cheeks (L. buccae) include lateral distensible walls of oral
cavity & facial prominences over the zygomatic bones.
• Cheeks have essentially same structure as the lips.
• The principal muscles of cheeks are the buccinators.
• Lips & cheeks function as an oral sphincter that pushes food
from the oral vestibule into the oral cavity proper.
• The tongue & buccinators work together to keep food b/w
occlusal surfaces of the molar teeth during chewing.
• Labial & buccal glands are small mucous glands b/w m.m &
underlying orbicularis oris & buccinator muscles.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
PALATE
• The palate forms arched roof of oral cavity proper & floor of
nasal cavities.
• Palate consists of hard & soft parts:
Hard palate ante. &
soft palate post.
• Hard palate separate
ant. part of oral cavity
from nasal cavities.
• Soft palate separates
post. part of oral cavity
from nasopharynx sup.
to it.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
• The hard palate is anterior vaulted (concave) part;
this space is filled with the tongue when it is at rest.
• The hard palate (covered by a m.m) is formed by:
- the palatine processes of the maxillae and
- the horizontal plates of the palatine bones.
• Three foramina open on the oral aspect of the hard palate:
- incisive fossa &
- greater & lesser
palatine foramina.
• Incisive fossa is a
slight depression
post. to central
incisor teeth.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
• The nasopalatine nerves pass from the nose through a variable no.
of incisive canals and foramina that open into the incisive fossa.
• Medial to third molar tooth, greater palatine foramen pierces
lateral border of the bony palate.
• Greater palatine Vv.
& Nn. emerge from
this foramen & run
ant. on the palate.
• The lesser palatine
foramina transmit
lesser palatine Nn. &
Vv. to soft palate &
adjacent structures.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
• The soft palate is the movable third of the palate, suspended
from the post. border of the hard palate.
• The soft palate extends posteroinferiorly as a curved free margin
from which hangs a conical process, the uvula.
• The soft palate is strengthened by the palatine aponeurosis,
formed by the
expanded
tendon of the
tensor veli
palatini.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
• Aponeurosis attached to the post. margin of hard palate, is thick
anteriorly and thin posteriorly.
• The anterior part of the soft palate is formed mainly by the
palatine aponeurosis, whereas its posterior part is muscular.
• When a person swallows, the soft palate is initially tensed to
allow the tongue to press against it, squeezing the bolus of food
to the back of the oral cavity proper.
• The soft palate is then elevated posteriorly and superiorly
against the wall of the pharynx, thereby preventing passage of
food into the nasal cavity.
• Laterally, the soft palate is continuous with the wall of the
pharynx and is joined to the tongue and pharynx by the
palatoglossal and palatopharyngeal arches, respectively.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
• The palatine tonsils, often referred to as “the tonsils,” are
masses of lymphoid tissue, one on each side of the oropharynx.
• Each tonsil lies in a tonsillar sinus (fossa), bounded by the
palatoglossal and palatopharyngeal arches and the tongue.

VASCULATURE AND INNERVATION OF PALATE

• Palate has a rich blood supply, chiefly from Rt. & Lt. greater
palatine Aa, brs. of descending palatine Aa.
• The lesser palatine artery, a smaller br. of descending palatine A.
enters the palate through lesser palatine foramen &
anastomoses with ascending palatine A, a br. of facial A.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
• Venous drainage of palate, corresponding to & accompanying
brs. of maxillary A, involves tributaries of pterygoid venous
plexus.
• Sensory nerves of palate pass through pterygopalatine ganglion
& are considered brs. of the
maxillary nerve.
• Greater palatine N. supplies
gingivae, m.m, & glands of
most of the hard palate.
• The nasopalatine N. supplies
m.m of ant. part of the hard
palate.
Oral Cavity (Cont.)
• The lesser palatine N. supply the soft palate.
• The palatine Nn. accompany the Aa. through the greater and
lesser palatine foramina, respectively.
• Except for the tensor veli palatini supplied by CN V3 , all muscles
of the soft palate are supplied through the pharyngeal plexus of
nerves, derived from pharyngeal branches of the vagus nerve
(CN X)
MUSCLES OF SOFT PALATE
• The muscles of the soft palate arise from the cranial base and
descend to the palate.
• The soft palate may be elevated so that it is in contact with the
posterior wall of the pharynx, sealing off the oral passage from
the nasopharynx (e.g., when swallowing or breathing through
the mouth).
• The soft palate can also be drawn inferiorly so that it is in
contact with the posterior part of the tongue, sealing off the oral
cavity from the nasal passage (e.g., when breathing exclusively
through the nose, even with the mouth open).
• The levator veli palatini (lifter of the soft palate) is a cylindrical
muscle that runs infero-anteriorly, spreading out in the soft
palate where it attaches to the superior surface of the palatine
aponeurosis.
• The tensor veli palatini (tensor of the soft palate) is a muscle
with a triangular belly that passes inferiorly;
the tendon formed at its apex hooks around the pterygoid
hamulus—the hook-shaped inferior projection of the
medial pterygoid plate—before spreading out as the
palatine aponeurosis.
• The palatoglossus is a slender slip of muscle that is covered with
a mucous membrane;
it forms the palatoglossal arch.
• Unlike the other muscles ending in -glossus, the palatoglossus is
a palatine muscle (in function and innervation) rather than a
tongue muscle.
• The palatopharyngeus is a thin, flat muscle also covered with a
mucous membrane; it forms the palatopharyngeal arch and
blends inferiorly with the longitudinal muscle of the pharynx.
• The musculus uvulae inserts into the mucosa of the uvula.