Mouth Anatomy: Complete Guide with Parts, Names & Diagram (2024)

Overview of Mouth Anatomy

The mouth is the starting point of the digestive system, where food enters andsalivais produced.Inside the mouthis a special lining called the oral mucosa, which is soft and moist.This lining covers the inside of the mouth, including the gums, tongue, and other areas.Besides helpingbreak down food, the mouth is also essential for speech. Although the main sounds of the voice come from the throat, the tongue, lips, and jaw are needed to create different words and sounds when we talk. The mouth anatomy has two main parts: the vestibule and the oral cavity.The vestibule is the area between the teeth and the lips, while the oral cavity proper is where the tongue sits and food gets chewed.

This space is always a bit wet because of the saliva. It helps with digestion and keeps everything smooth. The mouth also has teeth, which break down food. This article will show the mouth anatomy with their names, pictures & functions.

Mouth Anatomy Diagram

Parts of Mouth

Mouth Anatomy: Parts & Functions

Lip

Lips are akeyfeature of the face, helping with expressions, speaking, eating, kissing, and sensing touch. The top lip is called “labium superius oris,” and the bottomis called “labium inferius oris.” Each lip has a soft inner lining, a red middle part called the vermilion, and an outer skin layer.

The top lip starts from the folds on either side of the nose and goes down to the edge of the nostrils. The bottom lip stretches from the corners of the mouth to the crease between the lip and the chin.

Cheeks

The cheeks are theface areabetween the eyes and the jawline. They stretch from your nose to your ears. While they might seem simple on the outside, they arequitecomplexon the inside.

The outermost layer of the cheeks is the skin. The skin on your cheeks protects you from the outside world. It has tiny hairs that help keep your body temperaturesteady. The glands release oils to keep your skin healthy and fight off bacteria.

Under the skin, the cheeks have muscles, fat, and other tissues. The muscles in your cheeks help you chew food and make different facial expressions, like smiling or frowning. The fat gives your cheeks their shape and also helps to cushion them.

Gums

Gums, or gingiva, are the soft tissue that covers the lower jaw (mandible) and upper jaw (maxilla) inside your mouth. These tissues areimportantbecause they protect your teeth and help keep them in place.

Your gums are tightly attached to the bone underneath. This tight attachment helps them withstand the friction and pressure of chewing and other movements in your mouth.

Healthy gums are usually a coral-pink color in people with lighter skin tones. In some people, gums can be darker with more melanin,the pigment that gives color to skin.

Healthy gums are also firm and do not bleed easily. It seals around your teeth to protect the deeper layers of tissue from bacteria and other harmful substances.

These can be signs of inflammation if your gums change color to a deeper red, swell, or bleed more easily.A buildup of bacterial plaque often causes this inflammation.

Oral Cavity

The oral cavity sits below the nose at the front of the face.It has a roof, floor, and side walls. It opens at the front as the mouth opens and connects to the throat at the back through a narrow passage called the oropharyngeal isthmus. This passageis surroundedby soft tissue.

Several bones make up the structure of the oral cavity:

• the upper jawbones (maxillae)
• palate bones (palatine)
• temple bones (temporal)
• lower jawbone (mandible)
• wedge-shaped bone (sphenoid)
• horseshoe-shaped bone (hyoid)

The oral cavityis dividedinto two parts: the area in front of the teeth and lips (oral vestibule) and the area behind the teeth (oral cavity proper).

Salivary glandskeep the oral cavitymoist and help digest food by releasing enzymes that begin breaking down carbohydrates.The main salivary glands are the parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands.

Teeth

Human teeth are part of the digestive system, helping to break down food by cutting, tearing, and crushing it.It makes it easier to swallow and digest. There are four types of teeth in the human mouth, each with a unique role:

• Incisorsare the front teethusedfor cutting food into smaller pieces.
• Canines are pointed teethusedfor tearing food.
• Premolar teeth found between canines and molars help crush food.
• Molarsare thelargerteeth at the back of the mouth, also used for crushing food.

Teeth are rooted in the jawbones, either the upper jaw (maxilla) or the lower jaw (mandible), andare coveredby gums. Teethare madeof different layers of tissue with varying levels of hardness.

Most adults have 32 permanent teeth. However, some people have fewer due to missing teeth (hypodontia), while others have more due to extra teeth (hypodontia).

Children usually have 20 primary (baby) teeth that growfrom around4months old to about6years old. These baby teeth eventually fall out to make room for adult teeth.

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Tongue

The tongue is a muscle in your mouth that helps you eat, talk, and taste food. Itis coveredin tiny bumps called taste buds, which let you taste sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. The tongue is always wet because of saliva, which also helps you taste and chew.

When you eat, the tongue helps move food around so you can chew it properly. It alsoenables you toswallow by pushing food down your throat.

In humans, the tongue plays abigrole in talking, helping to form words and sounds. In other animals, it helps make different noises or vocalizations.

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Salivary glands

Saliva comes from Salivary glands that make and release it wheneverrequired.Humans have three big pairs of these salivaryglands, plus lots ofsmallerglands.The main ones are the parotid found near your ears.

It contains a protein called alpha-amylase, whichhelps break down starch.Submandibular glands under your jawhelpin digestion and lubrication.

Sublingual glandsunder your tongue keep your mouth smooth and slippery.They can make different types of saliva.

Our bodies make about 1.2 to 1.5 liters of saliva each day. When we need toproducesaliva, our bodies use a part of our nervous system called the parasympathetic system. It sends signals to the glands with a chemical called acetylcholine, which makes us drool more.

Palate

The hard palate makes the front part of the roof of your mouth. It is a sturdy bone formed by the maxilla and palatine bones and separates your mouth from your nasal passages.

It has a top lining with a ciliated epithelium, whilea squamous epithelium covers the bottom.The palate has bumpy ridges called rugae at the front to help move food.

There are three openings: the incisive canal in the middle front, the greater palatine foramen in the back, and the lesser palatine foramen further back. These let nerves and vessels pass through.

The soft palate is the back part of the roof of the mouth. Itcomprisesmuscles, connective tissue, and salivary glands, covered with a smooth, moist membrane. It doesn’t contain any bones and is flexible, allowing it to move and change shape.

The soft palate helps in several important tasks:

• It blocks the passage between the mouth and nose during swallowing, keeping food and drinks fromenteringthe nose.
• It plays a role in speaking and breathing.

The soft palate has a small piece at the end called the uvula, which hangs in the back of the mouth. It connects to the tongue and pharynx through two arches, known as the palatoglossal and palatopharyngeal arches. The tonsilsare foundbetween these arches.

Uvula

The uvula is a small, cone-shaped piece of tissue that hangs from the back edge of the soft palate in your mouth. It contains connective tissue, a few small muscles, and some glands that make saliva. Silva is the fluid that keeps your mouth and throat moist.

Themainrole of uvula is to keep your mouth and throat moist by producing saliva. It also plays a role in swallowing.

When you swallow food or drink, the uvula and the soft palate move backward to stop anything from going up into your nose. It isimportantbecause it helps keep food and drink moving in the right direction.

It helps you to protect yourself from choking. If something touches the soft palate near the uvula, it might make you gag or even vomit. This safety feature helps to ensure that nothing gets stuck in your throat.

Tonsils

The tonsils are organs stationed at the entrance to our throats. They help our body fight off germs. There are different types of tonsils: the adenoid tonsils, two tubal tonsils, two palatine tonsils, and the lingual tonsils.

When people talk about“tonsils”without specifying, they usually mean the palatine tonsils. These are at the back of the throat on either side.

These tonsils are part of our immune system. It works to catch and destroy harmful invaders like bacteria and viruses that we might breathe in or swallow.

They have special cells called M cells on their surface that grab onto these invaders and alert other immune cells, like B cells and T cells, tofight.

Inside the tonsils, B cells make memory cells and antibodies, which help our body remember how to fight off those germs if theyreturn again.So, thetonsils are like ourbody’sfirst line of defense against common illnesses like colds.

Pharynx

The pharynx sits in the middle of your neck and works like a junction for your digestive system and breathing.

It is like a funnel, wider at the top near your skull and narrower at the bottom around where your throat meets your chest. This structure lets you doimportantthings like swallow food, breathe air, and make sounds with your voice.

There are three main sections:

• Nasal Pharynx:This part is all about breathing. It is behind your nose and connects with your nasal cavities.
• Oral Pharynx:This section continues from your mouth and helps move food toward your throat.
• Laryngeal Pharynx:This is where your throat meets your larynx.It is the final stop before foodentersyour esophagus and airentersyour windpipe.

Understanding the pharynx isimportantbecause itinvolvesbasicfunctions like eating, breathing, and speaking.

Epiglottis

The epiglottis is a small, flexible piece of cartilage in your throat. Its job is to keep food and drinks from going down the wrong tube when you swallow.

Your voice box is normally open to let air in and out when you breathe.But when you eat or drink, the epiglottis closes over it, ensuring food and drinks go down the right way—into your stomach.

If the epiglottisdoesn’twork right, food or drinks can go into your voice box and windpipe, causing you to cough and possibly choke. If food or drink goes down into your lungs, it can lead to serious health issues like pneumonia.

Buccal Mucosa

The buccal mucosa is the soft tissue that lines the insides of your cheeks and lips.The area inside your mouth makes contact with your teeth when your mouth is closed.

Periodontium

The periodontium is the connective tissue that surrounds and supports your teeth. It has four main parts: cementum, periodontal ligament (PDL), alveolar bone, and gingival tissue (gums).

These parts work together to hold your teeth in place, protect them from germs and bacteria in the mouth, and connect them to the jawbone.

Incisive Papilla

The incisive papilla is a small, rounded bump on the roof of the mouth, right behind the front teeth. It is in the middle part of the hard palate and is where the two sides of the palate meet.

The incisive papilla isimportantbecause it sits above a small cavity called the incisive fossa, whichis linkedto the nose and mouth during fetal development.

Submandibular Gland

The submandibular gland is one of the three big saliva makers in your mouth, along with the parotid and sublingual glands. It sits under your jawbone in a spot called the submandibular triangle.

It sends its spit out through aWharton duct tube, which opens into your mouth near the frenulum.

This gland usually makes about 70% of your saliva when you are not eating. When you start munching, the parotid gland starts producing silva.

You can find this gland by tracing your jawbone to where it meets your neck muscles and wrapping your fingers aroundit.Itis surroundedby a covering called a capsule, like a protective layer.

Vestibule

The vestibule is the small space in your mouth between your lips or cheeks and your teeth or gums. It stays moist because of the spit (saliva)from the parotid salivary glands. These glandsare locatedin front of your ears and behind your jaw.

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Lower Limb

Upper Limb

Human Head

Organs

External Sources-

• Wikipedia
• KenHub
• Optometrists
• Cleveland Clinic
• American Academy of Ophthalmology