The excretory ducts of the

sublingual gland The sublingual gland (''glandula sublingualis'') is a seromucous polystomatic exocrine gland. Located underneath the oral diaphragm (''diaphragma oris''), the sublingual gland is the smallest and most diffuse of the three major salivary glands of ...

are from eight to twenty in number. Of the smaller sublingual ducts (ducts of Rivinus), some join the

submandibular duct The submandibular duct (also Wharton's duct or historically submaxillary duct) is one of the salivary excretory ducts. It is about 5 cm long, and its wall is much thinner than that of the parotid duct. It drains saliva from each bilateral submand ...

; others open separately into the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

, on the elevated crest of

mucous membrane A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It ...

(plica sublingualis), caused by the projection of the gland, on either side of the

frenulum linguae The frenulum (or frenum) of the tongue, tongue web, lingual frenulum, frenulum linguae, or fraenulum is a small fold of mucous membrane extending from the floor of the mouth to the midline of the underside of the human tongue. Development The ton ...

. One or more join to form the major sublingual duct (larger sublingual duct, duct of Bartholin), which opens into the submandibular duct.

References

External links

Histology at medicine.uiowa.edu
* Glands of mouth Saliva {{digestive-stub