Mouth

Mouth.An important part of the human body , located on the face . It is made up of soft parts ( palate , floor of the mouth, cheeks, lips and tongue ) and hard parts that are the teeth . These are placed in cavities of the maxillary bones , the so-called alveoli, to which they are fixed by means of the periodontal ligament. The gum is a soft, soft tissue that runs from the tooth’s neck to the bonecovering it and closing the periodontal space that remains between the dental root and the alveolar surface. In the mouth, the first step of digestion begins .

Summary

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• 1 Location
• 2 parts
• 3 Mouth functions
• 4 Features
  • 1 Structure of the mouth in humans
• 5 Parts of the oral cavity
• 6 Diseases of the oral cavity
• 7 Source

Location

It is located in the head and constitutes for the most part the stomatognathic apparatus, as well as the first part of the digestive system . The mouth opens to a space before the pharynx called the oral cavity, or oral cavity.

Parties

The human mouth is covered by the upper and lower lips and performs important functions in various activities such as language and in facial expressions such as smiling. The mouth is a great indicator of the health of the individual. The mucosa, for example, may appear lighter, paler or with white spots, an indicator of epithelial proliferations. Three types of mucosa can be distinguished in the mouth:

• Simple lining:presents submucosa .
• Masticatory:with probable absence of submucosa, keratinized or parakeratinized and in direct contact with bone tissue .
• Specialized:occurs in certain regions of the language . It refers to the mucosa related to taste receptors.

Mouth functions

• Chewing:Thanks to the movements of the jaw and the pressure of the teeth, this mechanical treatment that breaks down food occurs. The jaw is the one that provides the force for the lower molars to occlude against the upper ones. (Acts like a hammer).
• Saliva:Thanks to the opening of the ducts of the salivary glands , the first digestive juice ( saliva ) is produced, which performs a chemical degradation of food. In the case of carbohydrates, it does so through salivary amylase , which is responsible for destroying the alpha-1,4 bonds that are present in the polysaccharides, and then they would continue to degrade at the intestinal level.
• Sense of taste:Sensory taste receptors are found in the mouth, especially on the tongue, called taste buds .
• Speech:Much of the structures that modify the laryngeal sound and produce the articulated voice are found in the mouth thanks to its special cavities.
• Swallowing:It is divided into two:
• Voluntary phase:The tongue rises towards the roof of the oral cavity, urging the food bolus to enter the pharynx .
• Involuntary phase:The epiglottis goes backwards and closes the upper hole of the larynx. Due to this reflex, the pharynx becomes only a transitory digestive tract, thus preventing pieces from entering the airway (larynx).

characteristics

Structure of the mouth in humans

The oral cavity is located in the lower part of the face , between the nostrils and the suprahyoid region. It has an oval shape with a larger anteroposterior diameter. The alveolar-dental arches divide the mouth into two parts: an anterior and lateral part, located outside these arches, which is the vestibule of the mouth and another part located within these arches, which is the mouth itself.

The mouth itself and the buccal vestibule communicate with each other by numerous interstices that separate the teeth from each other (interdental spaces), and also by a wider space located between the last molars and the ascending branch of the mandible (retrodental space or retromolar trigone).

When the mouth is closed, that is, when both jaws are close together and there is no food or foreign bodies inside, the oral cavity is a virtual cavity. The mouth becomes a real cavity and acquires considerable dimensions due to:

1.The separation of the cheeks , enlarging the oral vestibule transversely, for example when blowing.

2. Projection of the lipsforward, expanding the vestibule anteroposteriorly.

3.The separation of the mandible from the upper jaw , increasing the vertical diameter of the cavity.

Parts of the oral cavity

The mouth can be considered a room with five walls:

• Anterior wall:It is formed by the lips .
• Side walls:They are formed by the cheeks .
• Lower wall:Formed mostly by the tongue and below it a region called the floor of the mouth.
• Upper wall:Formed by the palatal or palate vault.
• Posterior wall:It is really an irregular hole called the isthmus of the jaws that connects the mouth with the pharynx.

The annexes of the mouth are the teeth , gums and tonsils .

Diseases of the oral cavity

Due to the sensory nerve endings of the oral mucosa, almost all diseases that affect the oral cavity unrelated to teeth present with pain. The alterations that affect the mucosa present ulceration, vesicles and color changes.

• Ulcerations: theyare frequent in allergies, infections, trauma and some neoplasms.
• Vesicles:characteristics of some infections (herpesviruses), immune pathologies (pemphigus vulgaris, erythema multiforme).
• Masses: theycan be solid or cystic in any part of the mouth.

Pathologies

• Stomatitis, due to the herpes simplex virus type 1 that can be vesicular or ulcerative.
• Oral sperm candidiasisfor women (called thrush or milkweed), a fungal infection caused by an opportunistic fungus.
• Aphthous stomatitis: Associated with genital ulcers, conjunctivitis and Behçet syndrome.
• Uncommon infections: Israeli actinomyces or A. bovis actinomycosis, Vincent’s angina or trench mouth, syphilis.
• Cheilitis.
• Sialadenitis: Inflammation of a salivary gland.
• Benign tumors: mucocele, ranula, pyogenic granuloma, epulis, lingual thyroid, benign neoplasms.
• Gangrenous stomatitis.
• Mouth cancer, a squamous cell carcinoma in the oral cavity, strongly associated with smoking.