The Oral and Nasal Cavities

Flashcards about the oral and nasal cavities

Anterior oral fissure

The opening to the outside of the body.

Vestibule

Sits between the lips and the teeth

Oral cavity proper

Sits between the maxillae and the mandible.

Hard palate

Maxillary and palatine bones

Soft palate

Muscles of the soft palate or velum

Oribicularis Oris

Oral sphincter muscle that forms the lips

Buccinator muscle

Forms the cheeks on either side of the oral cavity to keep food inside.

Mylohyoid muscle

Thin sheet-like superficial muscle that forms the floor of the mouth

Geniohyoid

Muscle from which the muscles of the tongue and pharynx take some attachments.

Triangular shaped aperture

Important communication route for nerves and vessels entering the oral cavity, located between the mylohyoid and constrictor muscles of the pharynx.

Ascending pharyngeal artery

Arises from the posterior aspect of the external carotid artery and ascends between the internal carotid artery and the pharynx.

Lingual Artery

Arises from the anterior surface of the external carotid artery just above the superior thyroid artery at the level of the hyoid bone, passes deep to the hypoglossal nerve [XII].

Facial Artery

The third anterior branch of the external carotid artery that emerges over the edge of the mandible just anterior to the masseter muscle, to enter the face.

Resonance

Quality of the voice determined by the balance of sound vibration in the oral and nasal cavities during speech.

Hyponasality

Lack of nasal emission

Hypernasality

Excess nasal emission due to velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD)

Bulbar palsy

Impairment of cranial nerves IX, X, XI, and XII; a lower motor neuron condition.

Dysphagia

Difficulty in swallowing

Dysphonia

Defective use of voice

Dysarthria

Difficulty in articulating words (motor disorder of cranial nerves)