{"id":2100,"date":"2020-09-07T09:30:10","date_gmt":"2020-09-07T09:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/head-and-neck\/head\/oral-cavity\/salivary-glands\/"},"modified":"2020-09-16T16:46:58","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T14:46:58","slug":"salivary-glands","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/skull-head-and-neck\/head\/mouth-and-oral-cavity\/salivary-glands\/","title":{"rendered":"Salivary glands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div class=\"intro\">Salivary glands produce saliva, which aids the lubrication of the oral cavity, digestion, and protection of the teeth.<\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Screenshot_4.png\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Salivary glands\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Screenshot_4.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4843\"\/><\/a><figcaption><strong>Figure 1. The salivary glands <\/strong>(Credit: OpenStax, CC BY-SA 4.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_1\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title3\">Description<\/h4>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_1\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 3 major salivary glands are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Parotid glands<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Submandibular glands<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Sublingual glands<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n<\/span><span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_2\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title2\">Parotid glands<\/h3>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_2\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The parotid glands are paired salivary glands found within the <a href=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/head-and-neck\/head\/regions\/parotidomasseteric-region\/#Parotid_nest\">parotid nest<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Each gland is encapsulated by the\u00a0<strong>parotidomasseteric fascia<\/strong>, together with the masseter muscle; this fascia is considered to be a part of the\u00a0<strong>superficial cervical fascia<\/strong>.<\/li><li>The parotid gland can be divided into two lobes: superficial, and deep lobe, with the facial nerve running in-between.<\/li><li>The parotid duct (also known as\u00a0<strong>Stensen\u2019s duct<\/strong>)\u00a0conveys the produced saliva into the oral cavity.<ul><li>The duct pierces through the buccinator muscle and opens to the oral cavity through the parotid papilla which is located lateral to the 2<sup>nd<\/sup>\u00a0upper molar tooth.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>The parotid gland secretes an only serous type of saliva.<\/li><li>It is innervated via the auriculotemporal nerve from the otic ganglion supplying it with parasympathetic innervation. <\/li><li>The sensory innervation is supplied by the auriculotemporal and greater auricular nerves from the cervical plexus.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are several important structures that pass through (piercing) the parotid gland (listed as anterior-to-posterior):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Auriculotemporal nerve\u00a0<\/strong>(branch of the\u00a0<strong>mandibular division of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/head-and-neck\/neurovasculature\/innervation\/trigeminal-nerve-cn-v\/\">trigeminal nerve<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0CN V3<\/strong>)<\/li><li><strong>Superficial temporal\u00a0vein<\/strong><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/head-and-neck\/neurovasculature\/blood-vessels-hn\/external-carotid-artery\/\"><strong>External carotid artery<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(giving off the\u00a0<strong>superficial temporal branch<\/strong>\u00a0from which the\u00a0<strong>transverse facial artery\u00a0<\/strong>exits)<\/li><li><strong>Parotid plexus of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/head-and-neck\/neurovasculature\/innervation\/facial-nerve-cn-vii\/\">facial nerve<\/a>\u00a0(CN VII)<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n<\/span><span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_3\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title1\">Submandibular glands<\/h2>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_3\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The submandibular gland lies in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/course\/anatomy-head-and-neck\/lessons\/anterior-triangles\/\"><strong>submandibular triangle<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The submandibular duct (also known as&nbsp;<strong>Wharton\u2019s duct<\/strong>) joins the sublingual ducts and opens to the&nbsp;<strong>sublingual caruncle<\/strong>&nbsp;at the base of the tongue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The submandibular gland is innervated by the submandibular ganglion and receives blood supply from a branch of the facial artery \u2013 the submandibular artery.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/span><span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_4\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title1\">Sublingual glands<\/h2>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_4\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sublingual gland&nbsp;is located directly under the tongue. It is innervated by the submandibular ganglion.<\/p>\n<\/span><div id=\"the_titles\" style=\"display:none;\"><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Description<\/h4><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Parotid glands<\/h3><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Submandibular glands<\/h2><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sublingual glands<\/h2><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Description The 3 major salivary glands are: Parotid glands Submandibular glands Sublingual glands Parotid glands The parotid glands are paired salivary glands found within the parotid nest. Each gland is encapsulated by the\u00a0parotidomasseteric fascia, together with the masseter muscle; this fascia is considered to be a part of the\u00a0superficial cervical fascia. The parotid gland can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2098,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2100","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Salivary glands &#8211; Meddists<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/skull-head-and-neck\/head\/mouth-and-oral-cavity\/salivary-glands\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meddists.com\\\/learn\\\/pre-clinical\\\/anatomy\\\/skull-head-and-neck\\\/head\\\/mouth-and-oral-cavity\\\/salivary-glands\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meddists.com\\\/learn\\\/pre-clinical\\\/anatomy\\\/skull-head-and-neck\\\/head\\\/mouth-and-oral-cavity\\\/salivary-glands\\\/\",\"name\":\"Salivary glands &#8211; 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