Gingiva of lower jaw at a glance
- What it is
- The gingiva (gum) of the lower jaw is the mucosa covering the alveolar process of the mandible and surrounding the necks of lower teeth.
- Location
- It lies around the necks of the mandibular teeth and over the alveolar process.
- Function
- It protects underlying bone and tooth roots and forms a seal around the teeth.
- Body system
- Digestive · single, midline structure
- FMA ID
- FMA59764 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Covered by keratinised stratified squamous epithelium.
- Sensory supply from branches of the mandibular nerve.
Clinical relevance
Gingivitis is inflammation caused by plaque; periodontitis can lead to tooth loss.
Structures next to the gingiva of lower jaw
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Tongue · digestive
- Genioglossus · muscular
- Sublingual gland · digestive
- Mylohyoid · muscular
- Gingiva of upper jaw · digestive
- Mandible · skeletal
- Hyoglossus · muscular
- Lower second secondary premolar tooth · digestive
- Lower first secondary premolar tooth · digestive
- Lower first secondary molar tooth · digestive
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Gingiva of lower jaw (FMA59764). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §23.1 Overview of the Digestive System. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.