The oral cavity

The oral cavity is a part of the body adapted for taking in food which is formed by the bones of the skull. It consists of the vestibule and the oral cavity proper. Inside there are two rows of teeth, one above the other, to grind and crush food into small pieces.

The vestibule of the mouth is a slit-like space bounded externally by the lips and cheeks, and internally by the teeth and alveolar processes, the jaws.

The human being has two jaws: an upper and a lower one.

The upper jaw (the maxilla) is stationary forming part of the skull. It is a paired bone. It consists of a body and four processes: the frontal, zygomatic, palatine, and alveolar processes. There are four surfaces of the body of the maxilla: the anterior, posterior, superior, and medial or nasal surfaces.

The lower jaw (the mandible) is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the face. It ismovable and attached to the skull by muscles. The mandiblehas a U-shaped form and consists of a body and two branches. The Lower jaw is made up of two parts: the horse-shoe-shaped horizontal portion to which the teeth are attached and which is called "the body of the mandible" and the perpendicular part, the ramus. There are two rami, the left and the right.

The major portion of the structure, which makes up the jaw, is dense, hard bone but there is a part which is sponge-like in structure. This is called the alveolar process: and contains the sockets into which the roots of the teeth fit. The roots are held in place in sockets by a membrane, which is called the periodontal membrane.

The oral cavity proper is bounded superiorly by the hard or soft palates, inferiorly by the oral diaphragm, and anteriorly and laterally by the teeth and alveolar processes; posteriorly it communicates with the pharynx through the fauces. The alveolar process is a thickened ridge of bones he maxilla and the mandible that contains tooth sockets (dental alveoli) in bones that hold teeth. The roof of the oral cavity consists of a bony front part, called the hard palate and a posterior soft part called the soft palate. The hard palate separates the oral cavity fromthe nasal cavity. It is covered with the mucous membrane.The soft palate is situated posterior to the hard palate and separates the oral cavity from the pharynx. It is covered with a mucous membrane. The conicalpart of the soft palate situated along the medial line is called the uvula.

Exercise 9. Answer the following questions to the text.

What does the oral cavity consist of?

What is the vestibule bounded by?

What parts does maxilla consist of?

How many processes does maxilla have?

What does mandible consist of?

What is alveolar process?

How do the roots of the teeth held in place?

What is the hard palate and soft palate?

What part of the soft palate is called uvula?

Exercise 10. Match the following Ukrainian word combinations with the English ones:

1. alveolar processes	корінь та гілка
2. maxilla and mandible	періодонтальна оболонка
3. periodontal membrane	ліва та права гілки нижньої щелепи
4. mucous membrane	триматися у лунках за допомогою оболонки
5. hard and soft palates	альвеолярний відросток
6. fauces and uvula	слизова оболонка
7. root and ramus	верхня та нижня щелепи
8. to hold in sockets by membrane	тверде та м’яке піднебіння
9. left and right rami of the mandible	зів та язичок

Exercise 11. Say if the following statements are true or false. Correct the false statements to make them true.

Bones of the skull form the oral cavity.

The vestibule of the mouth is a slit-like space bounded internally by the lips and cheeks.

The lower jaw (maxilla) is a paired bone.

The hard palate separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity.

The soft palate is situated to the inferior of the hard palate.

The fauces connect the oral cavity with the pharynx.

The upper jaw (the maxilla) is movable and attached to the skull by muscles.

The roots are held in place in sockets by alveolar process.

Exercise 12. Match adjectives to the corresponding nouns.

Soft	membrane
Left	cavity
Alveolar	surface
Lower	cavity
Posterior	palate
Sponge-like	process
Periodontal	jaw
Oral	membrane
Nasal	structure
mucous	ramus

Exercise 13. Translate the words given in italics.

1. Alveolar osteitis is inflammation of альвеолярний відросток of the upper or lower jaw that classically occurs as a postoperative complication of tooth extraction.

2. Верхня щелепа or the upper part of the skull frames the mouth and holds the upper teeth in place.

3. The posterior border of гілки нижньої щелепи is thick, smooth, rounded, and covered by the parotid gland.

4. Слизова оболонка produces mucus that prevents pathogens and dirt from entering the body and prevents bodily tissue from losing moisture.

5. A tooth's root is attached to the jaw bone by періодонтальна мембрана that is somewhat elastic and allows for a limited amount of movement of the tooth in зубна лунка.

6. М’яке піднебіння is the soft tissue constituting the back of the mouth roof.

7. Periodontal membrane helps the roots of the teeth триматися у лунках of the teeth.

8. The alveolar process is made up of bone with губчастої структури.

Exercise 14. Read the definitions and fill in the blanks with the words given below.

(Oral cavity, uvula, alveolar process, hard palate, mandible, tongue, fauces, mucous membrane)

1. ... is a thin horizontal bony plate located in the roof of the mouth.

2.... is the large bundle of skeletal muscles on the floor of the mouth that manipulates food for chewing and swallowing.

3. ... is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food.

4. The flexibility of this bone allows us to chew and talk....

5. ... A red, moist, glistening tissue, which is called … forms a protective covering for the tongue, palate, floor of the mouth and the inside of the lips and cheeks, much as the skin does for the rest of the body.

6. ... is the conic projection from the posterior edge of the middle of the soft palate.

7. ... is a thick bony ridge that largely consists of sockets in which the teeth are embedded.

8. ... is the posterior part of the mouth, which leads into the pharynx.