Oral Cavity

Oral cavity

Formed by the lips, cheeks, hard and soft palate and floor of the mouth.
Contains specialized structures
-tongue, teeth
Entrance
Chamber
Boundaries
-Hard and soft plate
-Inner aspect of gums and teeth
-2 Palatoglossal folds

I. Mucous

Membrane

Stratified Squamous
Maybe keratinized or non keratinized depending on location and function
NON KERATINIZED
Inside the lips
Cheeks
Soft Palate

KERATINIZED
Hard Palate
Gingiva
Dorsal surface of the tongue

Floor of the mouth

Lower surface of the Tongue
Tonsils

LIPS

Central core of striated or skeletal muscle embedded in elastic fibroconnective tissue

Orbicularis Oris skeletal muscle.
Externally covered by skin and hair follicles, sebaceous glands and sweat glands.
Hairless and very thin skin at the edge.
Vermillion border variation of keratinized epithelium: High content of keratohyalin.
Red Region. No hairs, sweat or sebaceous glands.
Inner surface
-nonkeratinized
-small mucous glands and mucoserous salivary (labial) glands

VESTIBULE

Space in between the lips and cheeks and the outer aspect of the gums and teeth.
Thin epithelium
No keratinization
Loose lamina propia
No zonation
Desmosomes less numerous and smaller

GINGIVA

Dense connective tissue firmly fixed to the bone.

Covers the gums and extends to between the teeth.
Thick stratified squamous epithelium.
Covers the entire hard palate

FOUR LAYERS
1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)

Stratum basale
Stratum spinosum
Stratum granulosum
Stratum corneum

Stratum corneum
Keratinized but retain condensed nuclei; viable
Continually exfoliated into the saliva

Stratum spinosum
Contains bundles of tonofilaments that terminate in conspicuous desmosomes that firmly attach neighboring cells

Gums and palate

-

Greater thickness
Firmer attachment
Greater degree of keratinization
More resistant to attrition when chewing

Floor of the mouth underside of the tongue

Thin, nonkeratinized
Medications ( Nitroglycerin) diffuses through the epithelium and into the circulation

Posterior portion of the oral cavity

Contains numerous lymphocytes

Floor of the mouth and cheeks

Loose submucosa
Mucosa can be moved or elevated into folds
Soft palate
Stratified squamous epithelium gives way to pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium
Blood supply
Plexus of large vessels.
Small vessels
Capillaries
Nerve supply
CN V ( trigeminal nerve)

CN VII ( facial nerve)

II. TONGUE

Consist of interlacing bundles of striated muscle oriented vertical, horizontally, and longitudinally and intersecting at right angles.

Undersurface. Non keratinized

Dorsal portion
-Covered by relatively thick epithelium.
- Firmly bound to connective tissue
-Keratinized or incomplete keratinized
-Covered by lingual papillae.
LINGUAL PAPILLAE.
1.) Filiform Papillae

Most abundant

Slender, conical in form, and slightly curved with their tip pointing toward the back o the tongue

2-3mm in length and are arranged in more or less distinct rows coursing parallel to the diverging arms of the V-shaped sulcus terminalis

The heavy keratinized cells at the tips of the papillae are continuously exfoliated
Coated tongue
Delayed normal shedding
Accumulate in a layer mixed with bacteria
Forms a gray film
2.)

Fungiform Papillae
Narrow base with slight hemispherical upper portion
Mushroom-shaped with central core of connective tissue.
Unkeratinzed epithelium and smooth free surface
Highly vascular core (pinkish)
Have taste buds on the surface
0.5-1.0 in diameter
Higher than filiform papillae (1-2 mm in height)

3.)

Circumvallate Papillae
Posterior part of the tongue
Distributed in the V-region of the posterior tongue (sulcus terminalis)
Large, circular, flat papillae
Only 6-14
1-2 mm diameter; larger than fungiform papillae
Smooth epithelium
10-12 taste buds are found on the vertical portion or lateral aspect
250 taste buds in a single papilla
Surrounded by circular furrow or sulcus (deep moat or trench)
Multiple secondary papillae
Contains the serous gland of Ebner
GLAND OF EBNER
Ducts open in sulcus around the circumvallate papillae
Secretion rinses out the furrow around the papilla
Secretes into the groove that surrounds the circumvallate papillae to remove food from near the taste buds to prepare them to
respond to new stimuli

4.)

Foliate Papillae
Rudimentary in humans
Contains a few taste buds
Found in animals

TASTE BUDS
3,000 in human tongue
Pale ovoid bodies
50-80 um x 30-50 um
Consists of 50-90 fusiform cells, wider at the base than the apex
TASTE PORE
Small opening in the epithelium
TYPES OF CELLS
Light microscope
1.
Light cells
2.
Dark cells

Based on depth of staining

Electron Microscope
1.
TYPE-1 CELLS

Slender dark cells at the periphery

Long microvilli projecting into the taste pore

Small dense secretory granules

A.k.a. supporting cells

Surround and isolate other cell type from each other

2.

TYPE-II CELLS

Centrally located

Long microvilli

No secretory granules

Abundant smooth ER

Few rough ER

3.

TYPE-III CELLS

4.

Contains small dense-cored vesicles most abundant at the base believed to contain a neurotransmitter
Primary gustatory receptor

TYPE-IV CELLS

A.k.a basal cells

Differentiate into new receptor cells

Continuously renewed every 10 days or so

TYPES OF CELLS

No concensus
1.
Type I- dark
2.
Type II- light
3.
Type III- gustatory
4.
Type IV- basal
TASTE RECEPTORS
1.
Salt
2.
Sour
3.
Sweet
4.
Bitter
5.
Umami

Taste of certain amino acids (glutamate, aspartate)

Metabotropic glutamate receptor

Some cells respond to more than 1 taste

Recetors and ion channels for K and H are located in the apical membrane
-Makes up only 1-2 % of total membrane area of the?

FOUR BASIC TASTE SENSATIONS

Sweet and salty - tip

Sourness and bitterness back

Taste maps are over simplified

Sensitivity to all tastes are distributed across the whole tongue

Some areas are more responsive to certain tastes than other

1.

SWEET
-Involve specific membrane receptors that bind sugars
-Membrane conductance change causing depolarization and transmitter release

2.

BITTER
-Involves bitter-specific receptors
-Cause the 2nd messenger (IP3) mediated release of Calcium from internal stores

3. SOUR
-Appears to depend on the blocking of the potassium channels in the apical plasma
membrane by acid (H+ ions)
4.

SALTY
-Na ions enter the receptor cells via sodium channels
-Amiloride-sensitive Na-channels
-Entry of Na causes depolarization.

5. UMAMI
-Binding to the MGluR4 activates a G-protein and this may elevate intracellular Ca2
-First identified by Kikunae Ikeda
NERVES
FACIAL NERVES (VII)

Gustatory sensation except circumvallate papillae

GLOSSOPHARYNGEAL NERVE (IX)

Circumvallate papillae and pharyngeal portion of the tongue.

III. SALIVARY GLANDS
CLASSIFICATION
A. Minor glands
B. Major Glands
a.
Parotid gland
b.
Submandibular gland
c.
Sublingual gland
A. MINOR GLANDS

Small aggregates of salivary gland associated with oral mucosa and distributed in several regions of the oral cavity

B.

Located directly/via short ducts

Continuously secrete saliva
Short branching tubules
Lined with mucous cells

MAJOR GLANDS

Large extra-orally located pairs of glands

Situated at some distance from oral epithelium

Connected by branching system of ducts
Produce large volume of secrete on mechanical or chemical stitmulation

Mixed glands
Ovoid or elongated acini serve as secretory portions
ACINI
-Serous cells, mucous cells
-Seromucous acini (proximal pole are mucous cells, capped by serous cells aka serous demilune)

MUCUS ACINI
-Single layer of plump pyramidal cells on the smooth basal lamina
-Cytoplasm filled with mucigen (antecedent or mucus)
release their secretion into slender lumen
SEROUS ACINI
-Columnar, pyramidal form
-Smaller lumen than that of mucous acini
-Cytoplasm crowded with secretory granules
-Produce watery secretion containing most of the salivary proteins
-Cytoplasm appears basophilic in the H and E sections
MIXED ACINI
-Contains both serous and mucous cells and secretes both types
-Aka seromucous acini
-Mucous cells-proximal
-Serous cells-distal (serous demilune or demilune of (Giannuzzi)
-Myoepithelial cells
-Highly branched
-Aka basket cells
-Speed up flow of saliva by contraction thereby constricting the lumen? Acini
SALIVARY DUCTS
2 General Classes
1.
Intralobular
-Ducts located within the lobule
a.
Intercalated ducts
b.
Secretory ducts or striated ducts
2.

Interlobular
-Ducts located between the lobule
-Lined by cuboidal epithelial cells
-Serves as conduits for fluid secretion
-May have stem cell formation?

STRIATED DUCTS
-Larger
-Lined by columnar epithelium
-Associated with active electrolyte transport
-Secrete lysozyme and Kallikrein
-Transport IgA secreted by plasma cells
INTERCALATED DUCTS
-Diameter equal to secretory acinus
-Lined with flattened or cuboidal epithelium
INTERLOBULAR DUCTS
-Becomes larger and converge on the main ducts that opens into the oral cavity
-Larger ducts in the gland
-Found in the C.T. that separates the gland into lobules
IV.

OTHER GLANDS

GLANDS OPENING INTO THE VESTIBULE

1.

PAROTID GLANDS
-On either side of face below and anterior to the ears
-Extend from zygomatic arch above and the angle of the jaw below.
-Stensons duct (long opens on the side of the check opposite to the second upper molar
-Seromucous- mucus acini

2. LABIAL GLANDS
- Between the mucosa and orbicularis oris muscle in the upper and lower lips
-Mucous cells> seromucous
-Absent or very short intercalated ducts passing directly to striated muscle
3. BUCCAL GLANDS
-Beneath the mucosa on the inner aspect of check
-Same with labial gland
GLANDS OPENING ON FLOOR OF MOUTH
1. SUBMANDIBULAR GLANDS
-Located on either side between mandible and muscles forming with the floor of the mouth
-Whartons duct runs forward opening on sublingual papilla at side of fernulum
of the tongue
-Mixed gland (serous is greater than mucous)
-Short intercalated ducts
-Longer striated ducts than that of the parotid
2. SUBLINGUAL GLANDS
-Duct may join the submandibular but may also open separately on sublingual
Papilla
-Mixed gland-(60% mucous; 40% serous)

-Poorly developed striated? Ducts

GLANDS OPENING ON FLOOR OF MOUTH

Parotid Glands
Submaxillary or submandibular
SublinSgual
V.

Serous
Mixed serous and mucous
Predominantly mucous

HISTOPHYSIOLOGY OF SALIVARY GLANDS

SALIVA
-Mixture of the products of several kinds of glands
-Viscous, colorless, opalescent
-Contains water, mucoproteins, Ig, inorganic ions (Ca, K, Na, Cl, Fe)
-Amylase aka ptyalin
-Splits starch to smaller water soluble CHO
-Salivary corpuscles
-Degenerating granulocytes and lymphocytes from the tonsils and lymph nodules
-Similar to blood plasma or extracellular fluid
-Na ions actively reabsorbed
-K ions actively transported into the lumen
-HCO3 actively secreted
-Cl ion passively reabsorbed

Basal rate of secretion 0.5-1 ml/min

Increased secretion to the presence of food
Total daily flow: 1L or more
Alpha amylase initiates digestive process by hydrolyzing starch to soluble sugars

FUNCTIONS OF SALIVA
1.
Controls bacterial flora of the oral cavity (oral hygiene)
-Continual secretion and swallowing
2.

Bacteriostatic
-Lysozyme (hydrolyze bacterial cell wall)
-Lymphocytes and plasma cells (produce Ig-A)

3.
4.
5.

Solubilizes dry food in order to be tasted

Initiates starch digestion-serous acinar cells secrete amylase which begins to digest dietary starch to maltose.
Lubrication and binding-binds masticated food into slippery bolus.

SALIVA VS. BLOOD PLASMA

-Na and Cl concentration 1/8
-HCO3 3x greater
-K 7x greater
ALDOSTERONE
-Affects electrolyte composition
-Increase Na reabsorption and K exretion

VI.

A dog fed dry food produces saliva predominantly serous

A dog fed on a meat diet secretes saliva with much more mucus.
Salivation is controlled by the brain.
TONSILS

Two ovoid accumulated of lymphoid tissue beneath the mucous membrane

15 or more tonsillar crypts

PHARYNGEAL TONSIL
-Midline of the roof and posterior wall of the nasopharynx
-Unpaired
- Lined with pseudostratified columnar ciliated epithelium
-Small patches of stratified squamous epithelium
- Abundant lymphocytes
-No lymphatics sinuses
-Lymph not filtered through them
-Surrounded by blind-ending lymphatic capillaries
-Reach maximal development in childhood
-Involution begins around the age of 15 or earlier
-Usually atrophic in adults
-Ciliated epithelium replaced by stratified squamous epithelium
VII.

THE PHARYNX

Posterior continuation of the oral cavity

Where the respiratory tract and pathway for food merge and cross

In breathing, air is conducted across to the larynx

In eating, food passes to the esophagus

3

REGIONS
1. Nasopharynx-mucosa similar to respiratory tract
2.Oropharynx
3.Laryngeal pharynx

Stratified squamous epithelium

-Similar to the digestive tract
Pure mucous type glands

Lacks muscularis mucosa

Rich in elastic fibers
Mixed type glands are on the upper regions of the pharynx covered by ciliated epithelium