Corpus: Cheek

The cheeks' of domestic mammals form the lateral border of the oral cavity (cavum oris).

The cheeks form the outer wall of the molar vestibule and are attached to the alveolar margin of the upper and lower jaw in the area of the molars. They extend from the corner of the lip (angulus oris) to the mandibular fold (plica pterygomandibularis), a mucosal fold that extends from the palate to the lower jaw behind the last molar. Topographically, they form the buccal region.

Structure[Bearbeiten]

The caudal part of the cheek contains the strong masseter muscle. Similar to the lips (labia oris), the cheeks also have a three-layered structure:

• The outer layer is formed by the hairy skin.
• The middle layer consists of the cheek muscles (lip and cheek muscles), especially the buccinator muscle.
• The inner layer consists of oral cavity mucosa, which merges into the gums of the molars at the alveolar margin of the upper and lower jaw.

A fatty body, the corpus adiposum buccae, lies on the buccinator muscle at the front edge of the masseter muscle. Below this is the so-called juxtaoral organ in carnivores and pigs, the function of which is still unclear (2018).

In ruminants, strong, keratinised, cone-shaped and caudally directed papillae rise on the buccal mucosa and extend rostrally to the lips. The buccal glands (glandulae buccales) are usually embedded between the mucous membrane and the buccal muscles or between the layers of the musculature. There is usually a dorsal or maxillary and a ventral or mandibular group. In ruminants there is also an intermandibular group.

The buccal mucosa bears a small papilla on which the excretory duct of the parotid gland (glandula parotis) opens.

If the buccinator muscle is paralysed, the buccal mucosa can get caught between the rows of teeth due to the lack of muscle tone and be injured when chewing.

• Nickel, Richard, Schummer, August, Seiferle, Eugen. Lehrbuch der Anatomie der Haustiere, Band II: Organsysteme. Parey Verlag, 2003.
• Salomon, Franz-Viktor, Geyer, Hans, Gille, Uwe. Anatomy for veterinary medicine. 2nd, updated and expanded edition. Enke-Verlag, 2008.