Floor of the Mouth and Palate Anatomy PDF

**[Floor of the mouth and palate ]** **[Learning outcomes]** **1. Describe the clinical appearance and histopathology of the floor of the mouth and palate.** - **Clinical Appearance of the Floor of the Mouth (FOM)**: - **Color**: Reddish-pink with bluish areas where veins are vis...

**[Floor of the mouth and palate ]** **[Learning outcomes]** **1. Describe the clinical appearance and histopathology of the floor of the mouth and palate.** - **Clinical Appearance of the Floor of the Mouth (FOM)**: - **Color**: Reddish-pink with bluish areas where veins are visible. - **Texture**: Shiny, moist, and compressible. - **Key Features**: Lingual frenum, sublingual papillae, Wharton's duct, sublingual folds, and sometimes mandibular tori. - **Clinical Appearance of the Palate**: - **Hard Palate**: Pink, firm, immobile, with a firmer central region and more cushioned lateral sides. - **Soft Palate**: Deeper pink, moist, compressible, and elastic. - **Histopathology**: - **Floor of the Mouth (FOM)**: Non-keratinized stratified squamous epithelium, supported by a dense connective tissue lamina propria, and submucosa rich in blood vessels and salivary ducts. - **Hard Palate**: Keratinized stratified squamous epithelium with a dense lamina propria firmly attached to underlying bone, and minor salivary glands in the lateral submucosa. - **Soft Palate**: Non-keratinized stratified squamous epithelium with a lamina propria rich in elastic fibers, allowing flexibility, and a submucosa containing salivary glands. **2. Outline the muscles associated with the floor of the mouth, including their origin, insertion, and action.** - **Mylohyoid**: - **Origin**: Mylohyoid line of the mandible. - **Insertion**: Body of the hyoid bone. - **Action**: Forms the floor of the oral cavity, elevates the floor of the mouth and hyoid bone, and assists in depressing the mandible. - **Hyoglossus**: - **Origin**: Greater cornu of the hyoid bone. - **Insertion**: Lateral borders of the tongue. - **Action**: Depresses and retracts the tongue. - **Geniohyoid**: - **Origin**: Inferior genial tubercle of the mandible. - **Insertion**: Body of the hyoid bone. - **Action**: Elevates the hyoid bone, shortens the floor of the mouth, and widens the pharynx. **3. Identify and outline the key features of the floor of the mouth and palate.** - **Key Features of the Floor of the Mouth (FOM)**: - **Lingual Frenum**: Mucosal fold connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth. - **Sublingual Papillae**: Openings for the submandibular ducts on either side of the frenulum. - **Wharton's Duct**: Major duct of the submandibular gland. - **Sublingual Folds**: Tissue ridges overlying the sublingual glands. - **Mandibular Tori**: Bony growths on the lingual side of the mandible (may not be present in all individuals). - **Key Features of the Hard Palate**: - **Incisive Papilla**: A small bump behind the maxillary central incisors. - **Palatine Rugae**: Folds of mucosa that provide tactile sensation. - **Median Palatine Raphe**: A ridge running along the midline of the hard palate. - **Palatal Torus**: A bony prominence (if present). - **Key Features of the Soft Palate**: - **Uvula**: A small, fleshy extension hanging from the soft palate. - **Pillars of the Fauces**: Two arches on either side of the uvula: - Anterior Pillar: Palatoglossal arch. - Posterior Pillar: Palatopharyngeal arch. - **Tonsillar Fossa**: Space between the anterior and posterior pillars, where the palatine tonsils are located. **4. Name the nerve innervation and blood supply to both the floor of the mouth and the palate.** - **Floor of the Mouth (FOM)**: - **Nerve Innervation**: Lingual nerve (branch of CN V3), hypoglossal nerve (CN XII), glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX). - **Blood Supply**: Lingual artery, sublingual artery, and submental artery. - **Hard Palate**: - **Nerve Innervation**: Greater palatine nerve and nasopalatine nerve (branches of CN V2). - **Blood Supply**: Greater palatine artery. - **Soft Palate**: - **Nerve Innervation**: Lesser palatine nerve (branch of CN V2). - **Blood Supply**: Lesser palatine arteries. Diagram of layers of the mouthFOM  Diagram of Mylohyoid HYOGLOSSUS Diagram of geniohyoid  diagram of hard palate HP A close-up of teeth Description automatically generated  SP Picture of back of lower jaw