Gingiva of upper jaw at a glance
- What it is
- The gingiva (gum) of the upper jaw is the mucosa covering the alveolar process of the maxilla and surrounding the necks of upper teeth.
- Location
- It lies around the necks of the maxillary teeth and over the alveolar process, continuing into the oral mucosa.
- Function
- It protects underlying bone and the tooth roots and forms a seal around teeth.
- Body system
- Digestive · single, midline structure
- FMA ID
- FMA59763 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Covered by keratinised stratified squamous epithelium.
- Sensory supply from branches of the maxillary nerve.
Clinical relevance
Gingivitis is inflammation caused by plaque; periodontitis can lead to tooth loss.
Structures next to the gingiva of upper jaw
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Gingiva of lower jaw · digestive
- Upper first secondary premolar tooth · digestive
- Inferior nasal concha · skeletal
- Upper second secondary premolar tooth · digestive
- Upper lateral secondary incisor tooth · digestive
- Upper central secondary incisor tooth · digestive
- Upper secondary canine tooth · digestive
- Mandible · skeletal
- Upper first secondary molar tooth · digestive
- Tongue · digestive
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Gingiva of upper jaw (FMA59763). 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.