Oral cavity

Unit 2. Anatomy of the facio-mandibular area

Lesson 5.

Exercise 1. Learn the active vocabulary to the text:

alimentary canal – пищеварительный тракт (канал)

gum – десна

tongue – язык

to cover –покрывать

mucous membrane – слизистая оболочка

taste-buds – вкусовые сосочки

to swallow – глотать, проглатывать

soft palate – мягкое нёбо

hard palate – твердое нёбо

throat – горло, гортань, глотка

uvula (pl uvulae) –язычок

tonsil – миндалевидная железа

almond-shaped – миндалевидная форма

gland –железа

salivary –слюнный

saliva – слюна

jaw – челюсть

cheek – щека

to send –направлять

duct – проток, канал

parotid –околоушный

to cut –разрезать

to change – менять(ся)

to remain – оставаться

to manufacture – производить

tissue –ткань

health –здоровье

Exercise 2. Read the text and translate it into Russian:

Oral cavity

The mouth is the first division of the alimentary canal. Important structures of the mouth are gums with teeth and the tongue.

The tongue is composed of a number of highly mobile muscles covered with mucous membrane that includes taste-buds. The tongue has two main parts: the tip, the very movable front part; and the root, the more or less fixed one. The tongue is very flexible. It is richly supplied with nerves and blood vessels. The tongue is essential to the production of speech, to the swallowing of food and to the sense of taste.

The soft and hard palate and salivary glands are in the oral cavity. The palate is the roof of the mouth. It consists of the hard palate in front, a bony structure covered with mucous membrane, and a soft palate, composed of nine small muscles, behind. The soft palate is a continuation of the soft tissues covering the hard palate. By changing the shape of the mouth, the soft palate is an important organ in the production of speech.

If you open the mouth, you will see the uvula. The uvula is a prolongation of the centre of the soft palate. It is the «little grape» of muscle tissue that hangs down from the roof of the mouth. It is part of the soft palate and an important organ for speech. On each side of the uvula there are tonsils.

The tonsils are a pair of almond-shaped lymphoid-tissue masses in the back of the throat. Like all lymph tissue, the tonsils release phagocytes that destroy bacteria. Sometimes, however, they themselves become overwhelmed with infection and are chronically diseased. This inflammation of the tonsils, called tonsillitis, is usually evidenced by a sore throat.

There are four glands, salivary glands, which secrete saliva. Sublingual gland lies under the tongue and submaxillary in the neck under the jaw. The two largest, called parotid glands and its little «auxiliary» lie between the cheek and a flat muscle band. The saliva is sent to the mouth through the duct.

The functions of the teeth are obvious: to chew food and mix it with saliva, to aid speech, and to maintain the position of the jaws. The teeth are part of the digestive system. The food we choose to eat is cut by the teeth. The teeth get it ready for the stomach and intestines. If the teeth do their work well, the body is more likely to remain healthy, and if the body is healthy, the teeth are likely to remain strong.