Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Cupid's bow feature of a human lip. The upper and lower lips are referred to as the labium superius oris and labium inferius oris, respectively. [2] [3] The juncture where the lips meet the surrounding skin of the mouth area is the vermilion border, [4] and the typically reddish area within the borders is called the vermilion zone. [5]
In facial expression, this mouth line is iconically shaped like an up-open parabola in a smile, and like a down-open parabola in a frown. A down-turned mouth means a mouth line forming a down-turned parabola, and when permanent can be normal. Also, a down-turned mouth can be part of the presentation of Prader–Willi syndrome. [4]
Typically, regions such as the cheeks, lips, and parts of the hard palate contain submucosa (a layer of loose fatty or glandular connective tissue containing the major blood vessels and nerves supplying the mucosa). The submucosa's composition determines the flexibility of the attachment of oral mucosa to the underlying structures.
The lips are composed wholly of soft tissue. The skin of the face is thicker than the skin overlying the lips where blood vessels are closer to the surface. As a consequence, the margin of the lips shows a transition between the thicker and thinner skin, represented by the vermilion border.
The mucosa of the cheeks and floor of the mouth are freely moveable and fragile, whereas the mucosa around the teeth and on the palate are firm and keratinized. Where the two tissue types meet is known as a mucogingival junction. There are three mucogingival junctions: on the facial of the maxilla and on both the facial and lingual of the mandible.
Normal lips. The lips are normally symmetrical, pink, smooth, and moist. There should be no growths, lumps, or discoloration of the tissue. Abnormal findings are asymmetricality, cyanosis, a cherry-red or pale color or dryness. Diseases include mucocele, aphthous ulcer, angular stomatitis, carcinoma, cleft lip, leukoplakia, herpes simplex and ...
The commissure is the corner of the mouth, where the vermillion border of the superior labium (upper lip) meets that of the inferior labium (lower lip). The commissure is important in facial appearance, particularly during some functions, including smiling. As such it is of interest to dental surgeons.
The inferior labial artery (inferior labial branch of facial artery) arises near the angle of the mouth as a branch of the facial artery; it passes upward and forward beneath the triangularis and, penetrating the orbicularis oris, runs in a tortuous course along the edge of the lower lip between this muscle and the mucous membrane.