The Parotid Gland - Part of the Salivary Glands
The parotid gland, sublingual gland, and submandibular glands all make up your salivary glands, which are a very important set of glands within the human anatomy. Continue reading to find the definition of the Paratoid Gland and learn more about the salivary glands.
In addition to resources and information, we also give info on all sorts of other glands such as the sublingual gland and submandibular gland and other medical areas other than these, such as pneumonitis. This particular part of the human anatomy plays an extremely improtant part in the human funchiton as it is one of the components which aid in part the process of the secretion of saliva in our mouths, but here on this website we find interest in all parts of the mediccally based human anatomy including paratoid mass, parotidectomy surgery, caratoid cysts, and more.
What is the Parotid Gland?
The Parotid gland is one of the glands essential to secreting saliva. As you should know by now if you've been reading, the parotid gland is part of the salivary glands. It is the largest of these salvivary glands. How many parts are salivary glands are there? In total there are three components to salivary glands, but the parotid gland is the largest.
There are actually two seperate parts to the parotid gland within the typical human anaotomy. The saliva secreted by these glands is useful in the digestion of the food all humans must consume to obtain nutrients and survive; Because of this fact, one could argue that the parotid gland and other glands such as the sublingual gland are essential to our survival as humans.
Saliva is secreted through the stensen's ducts. Saliva contains alpha-amylase, which is an enzyme. Alpha-amylase is an active enzyme and as such it helps breaks down parts of food like starch and fat. The enzyme hydrolyzes alpha 1,4 bonds, which in turn decomposes and breaks down amylose (straight chain starch) and amylopectin (branched starch), aiding in the consumption and digestion of food for humans during eating to obtain proper amounts of nutrients.
Where is the Parotid Gland Located?
The Parotid glands are located in the area called the parotid fascial spaces, such that it overlaps the Mandibular ramus What is the Mandibular ramus?
The Mandibular ramus is a quadrilaternally shaped portion of the mandible bone. The gland is inferior to the anterior ear. This space where the Parotid gland is located between the Mandibular ramus and the anterior ear is technically known as the parotid fascial space.
As you can see from the diagram above, if you would like to put it in simple terms it is located in the area starting at the mid ear leve and moving down and forward at the very back of the jaw bone.
Parotidectomy Surgery (Removal)
Under some situations removal of the gland is neccesary. This is known as parotidectomy surgery. This type of surgery is required most often when a tumor, mass, or cyst is found, either malignant or benign. It is occasionally neccesary also when repeated parotid infections have occurred. There are different degrees of possible surgeries which may be neccesary depending on the anatomy, as described below.
Superficial Parotidectomy
The depth of the parotid gland under the skin is usually found about 3 centimeters. Tumors that are being removed usually are located such that they are above the fascial nerve. This makes most parotodectomy surgeries quite easy, and are called a superficial parotidectomy.
Total Parotidectomy
When the tumor or mass is both anterior and inferior to the facial nerve, the procedure becomes much more complicated and is termed a total parotidectomy. The facial nerve becomes an issue in this situation because it must not be damaged during the surgery. The facial nerve must be located and protected while ensuring that all cancerous malignant material is removed as well.
What's the Function of the Parotid Gland?
The Parotid Gland's function, as you have previously read on this, page, is to secrete saliva. The Parotid Gland accomplishes this secretion of saliva by the salivatory glands through the Stensen's ducts. This saliva allows Mastication, better known as chewing; imagine trying to eat dry crackers with no fluid or saliva in your mouth and you will see how important these parts of your body are to your daily function.
So essentially the function of the parotid gland is to help produce saliva through the other salivary glands. Saliva is one part of oral fluid and is secreted by the three major salivary glands along with countless other secondary glands. The active enzymes contained by saliva break down the starches and fatty matter in food. Saliva also helps us taste our food by containing thiols through the use of specialized bacteria that is anaerobic in nature.