Salivatory reflex

SALIVATORY REFLEX

  • Protective reflex preventing oral mucosa from drying.
  • Elicited when oral and lingual mucosa is stimulated by foreign substances.
  • Afferent fibres pass via trigeminal, facial, glossopharyngeal and vagus.
  • These fibres end in brain stem reticular formation by synapsing with intenuncial neurons.
  • Efferent fibres reach salivary glands depend upon primary stimuli via different routes.
  • They arise from neurons of rostral and caudal salivatory nuclei.
  • Fibres via facial nerve reaches mandibular and lingual salivary gland.
  • Parotid secretion is increased by way of glossopharyngeal motor fibres.
  • Feeding and presence of food in the oral cavity influences through this reflex mechanism ends in production of mucinous saliva from sublingual, sub maxillary, pharyngeal and labial glands to facilitate swallowing.
  • Noxius when consumed end up in copious flow of serous saliva so as to wash away them without being injested or they are diluted by the saliva from parotid, inferior molar, buccal and phalangial gland as a protective mechanism.
  • Salivatory reflexes is initiated by many difference stimuli ans is potentiated by olfactory, gustatory, auditory and visual mechanism.

Last modified: Thursday, 9 June 2011, 5:27 AM