The floor of the mouth is the horseshoe-shaped area under the tongue, supported by a muscular sling formed mainly by the two mylohyoid muscles (the oral diaphragm). Its lining carries the lingual frenulum, the sublingual folds and the small sublingual caruncles where the submandibular ducts open. Beneath the mucosa lie the sublingual glands, the lingual nerve and the submandibular duct.
| Location | Under the anterior tongue, inside the arch of the mandible, above the mylohyoid muscles |
|---|---|
| Parts |
|
| Nerve Supply | Lingual nerve (sensory); Nerve to mylohyoid (motor); Hypoglossal nerve (geniohyoid via C1 fibres) |
| Blood Supply | Sublingual artery (from the lingual artery); Submental artery (from the facial artery) |
| Venous drainage |
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| Lymphatic drainage |
|
Supports the tongue, carries the openings of the submandibular and sublingual salivary ducts and helps raise the tongue and hyoid during swallowing.
The thin, highly vascular lining absorbs drugs quickly, which is why glyceryl trinitrate is given under the tongue. Infection here can spread to the submandibular and sublingual spaces on both sides, producing Ludwig angina, a surgical emergency that pushes the tongue up and back against the airway. Floor of mouth carcinoma often reaches the mandible and the lymph nodes on both sides of the neck.
Rapidly spreading cellulitis of the floor of the mouth and submandibular spaces, usually from a lower molar infection, that can obstruct the airway.
Mucus-filled swelling in the floor of the mouth caused by leakage from a damaged sublingual gland, with a bluish translucent appearance.
Squamous cell carcinoma arising under the tongue; strongly linked to smoking and alcohol and prone to early bilateral neck node spread.
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