What is the difference between mouth and lips

The mouth is an oval-shaped cavity inside the skull. The two main functions of the mouth are eating and speaking. Parts of the mouth include the lips, vestibule, mouth cavity, gums, teeth, hard and soft palate, tongue and salivary glands. The mouth is also known as the oral cavity or the buccal cavity. This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:. If you don't have enough calcium in your diet, your bones will eventually become weak and brittle.

Most cleft palates and cleft lips can be repaired so that appearance and speech develop normally. Your lips are part of your mouth. Your teeth and tongue are in your mouth. See a translation. Highly-rated answerer. Read more comments. English UK. Your mouth is your lips, tongue, teeth, gums, and tonsils.

Standring S. Elsevier; Anatomy of the lower face and botulinum toxin injections. Plastic Reconstruct Surg ; Michigan Manual of Plastic Surgery. This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Read our Cookies Policy. Home Anatomy of the ageing lip. Share This. Functions of the lips Food intake Lips serve to close the mouth airtight shut, to hold food and drink inside. Mastication Lips help to hold food between upper and lower teeth during chewing.

Deglutition Lips push food into the oral cavity proper during the voluntary phase of swallowing where it is ingested and prepared for digestion in the stomach and small intestine. Articulation The lips serve for creating different sounds — mainly labial, and labiodental consonant sounds. Tactile organ The lip has many nerve endings and reacts as part of the tactile senses. Erogenous zone Because of their high number of nerve endings, the lips are an erogenous zone.

Facial expressions The lips form an integral part of facial expression e. Figure 1: Anatomical landmarks of the lip. Lip anatomy The upper lip lies between the nose and the orifice of the oral cavity. Orbicularis oris The orbicularis oris muscle, the lip muscle, is a broad elliptical muscle around the mouth Figure 2.

Pars marginalis It is developed to a unique extent in human lips and is closely associated with speech. Pars peripheralis It is located in the cutaneous lip. Sensory innervation Upper lip Superior labial nerve from the infraorbital nerve, one of the major cutaneous branches of the maxillary nerve CNV2 , the intermediate division of the trigeminal nerve. Lower lip Mental nerve from the inferior alveolar nerve, a major branch of the mandibular nerve CNV3 , which arises in the mandibular canal and emerges from the mental foramen normally located inferiorly to the second premolar tooth in the mandible.

Blood supply Superior and inferior labial arteries arise from the facial artery. Lymphatic drainage Upper and lower lateral lip drain primarily into the submandibular nodes, whereas lymph from the medial part of the lower lip passes initially to the submental lymph nodes.

At rest, there should be mm vertical exposure of the maxillary incisors in relation to the upper lip. Figure 4: Lips showing soft tissue changes. Chronological lip changes Maxilla Maxillary retrusion in both dentate and edentulous individuals.

Maxilla rotates clockwise. Decrease in the maxillary angle and height leading to posterior positioning of the lip and deepening of the nasolabial folds NL. Mandible Height of ramus and mandibular body length decrease with age. Learn more about canker sores on the lip here. According to a article , cold sores do not require treatment and go away on their own within a couple of weeks.

However, treatment is available to help speed up the healing process. A virus causes a cold sore, so treatment typically involves using antiviral medications. Some medications require a prescription, but many topical antiviral medications, such as patches, creams, lotions, or gels, are available over the counter. Learn more about how to get rid of a cold sore here.

Most canker sores will heal in 1 to 2 weeks. The sores can cause problems when a person is eating or talking due to friction and subsequent pain. A doctor may suggest taking acetaminophen Tylenol for the pain. Other treatment options will focus on reducing inflammation , such as steroid mouth rinses or creams.

A topical anesthetic can numb the skin and reduce pain from the sore. Antimicrobial mouthwash can kill bacteria and other germs in the mouth. This lowers the risk of a sore on the lip becoming infected. Learn about 9 ways to treat mouth ulcers here. Mouth and lip ulcers can be uncomfortable and painful, so it is important to take care of them to prevent further pain and damage. Anyone who touches a cold sore must wash their hands immediately; otherwise, it is possible to spread the virus to another part of the body or someone else.

Learn more about mouth sores and how to prevent them here. Cold sores are highly contagious. A person can transmit the virus to another person through mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-genital contact. Anyone with cold sores should take care to avoid this kind of contact while the symptoms are active.