Lips are highly vascularized, skeletal muscle tissue with an abundance of sensory nerve endings
Lips helps retain food as it is being chewed and play an important role in phonation (the modification of sound)
The oral cavity contain the tongue and teeth
Mammals can mechanically process a wide range of food because their teeth are covered with enamel(hardest material in the body) and because their jaws and teeth exert a strong force
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Oral Cavity�
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Oral Cavity
Saliva
The oral cavity is continuously bathed with saliva
Saliva is a watery fluid that at-least three pair of salivary glands secrete
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Salivary Glands-three pairs
1. Parotid: largest.
a.Serous.
b. Parotid duct enters the oral cavity adjacent to the 2nd upper molar
2. Sublingual: smallest.
a.Mixed, but primarily mucous.
b.Each has 10-12 ducts that enter the floor of the oral cavity.
3. Submandibular: mixed,
a.Posterior half of inferior border of mandible.
b.Duct enters oral cavity on either side of lingual frenulum
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I. Functions of Saliva
1. Enzyme lysozyme, which kill microorganisms
2. Lubrication
3. Contains salivary amylase that breaks down starch into disaccharides (digestion of carbohydrate)
4. Saliva moistens the food into moist mass called a bolus
5. Saliva also contains bicarbonate ions which buffer chemicals in the mouth