Science
Anatomy
X. Digestive system Oral Cavity
& Tongue
The human mouth is concerned with
vocalization as well as mastication
and swallowing (deglutition). Its
interior half, including teeth, muscular
tongue and related extrinsic muscles,
salivary grands, hard (bony) plate,
and buccinator muscle in the cheek
wall, is concerned with wetting,
macerating, and pulverizing ingested
material. Thousands of mucous glands
in the stratified squamous lined
mucosa of the mouth assists in these
functions, as do the multiples,
microscopically towering papillae on the surface of the tongue, the latter
forming an abrasive surface for mechanical digestion. The temporomandibular
joints permit a fairly wide range of lower jaw motion and mouth opening (35-
50 mm interincisal range in the adult). The posterior half of the mouth,
including soft (muscular) palate, tongue, and tonsils between the muscular
arches, is concerned with immune defense and propelling the mechanically
treated food into the pharynx. Sense receptors (taste buds) buried among the
papillae on the tongue surface are responsive to chemical stimuli dissolved in
Anatomy
X. Digestive system Oral Cavity
& Tongue
The human mouth is concerned with
vocalization as well as mastication
and swallowing (deglutition). Its
interior half, including teeth, muscular
tongue and related extrinsic muscles,
salivary grands, hard (bony) plate,
and buccinator muscle in the cheek
wall, is concerned with wetting,
macerating, and pulverizing ingested
material. Thousands of mucous glands
in the stratified squamous lined
mucosa of the mouth assists in these
functions, as do the multiples,
microscopically towering papillae on the surface of the tongue, the latter
forming an abrasive surface for mechanical digestion. The temporomandibular
joints permit a fairly wide range of lower jaw motion and mouth opening (35-
50 mm interincisal range in the adult). The posterior half of the mouth,
including soft (muscular) palate, tongue, and tonsils between the muscular
arches, is concerned with immune defense and propelling the mechanically
treated food into the pharynx. Sense receptors (taste buds) buried among the
papillae on the tongue surface are responsive to chemical stimuli dissolved in
