12 Oral Floor and Upper Neck Region
Fig. 12.1. The oral floor from the side. Part of the mandible has been removed.
The submandibular ganglion is parasympathetic ganglion that is found in the floor of the mouth on the superficial surface of the hyoglossus muscle. It lies between the lingual nerve and the deep part of the submandibular gland. It is suspended by two roots from the lingual nerve. The submandibular ganglion is responsible for innervation of the submandibular gland and sublingual gland. Preganglionic parasympathetic fibers originate from the superior salivary nucleus in the brain stem. The fibers pass with the nervus intermedius of the facial nerve into the internal acoustic meatus and exit the skull with the chorda tympani at the petrotympanic fissure. The chorda tympani nerve joins the lingual nerve.
The inferior alveolar nerve branches off the mylohyoid nerve before entering the mandibular canal. The mylohyoid nerve courses inferiorly and anteriorly in the mylohyoid groove beneath the mylohyoid line (see Fig. 3.7). It supplies the mylohyoid muscle and the anterior belly of digastric muscle. It also supplies the skin of the submental region.
The lingual nerve courses toward the floor of the mouth from the infratemporal fossa. It supplies the mucosa covering the anterior two-thirds of the dorsum of the tongue, the ventral surface of the tongue, the floor of the mouth, and the lingual gingivae of the mandibular teeth. The rest of the posterior part of the tongue are innervated by the glossopharyngeal nerve.
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