Submandibular Duct

The submandibular duct is one of the salivary ducts. It is about 5 cm. long, and its wall is much thinner than that of the parotid duct. It begins by numerous branches from the deep surface of the gland, and runs forward between the mylohyoideus, hyoglossus, and genioglossus, then between the sublingual gland and the genioglossus, and opens by a narrow orifice on the summit of a small papilla at the side of the frenulum linguae. On the hyoglossus it lies between the lingual and hypoglossal nerves, but at the anterior border of the muscle the lingual nerve passes inferior and medial to the submandibular duct.; the terminal branches of the lingual nerve ascend on its medial side. It drains saliva from the submandibular glands and sublingual glands to the sublingual caruncle at the base of the tongue. It was initially described by the English anatomist Thomas Wharton and is sometimes referred to by his name. This is the duct from which a hungry person, preparing to take a first bite of food, might accidentally eject a spray of salivary fluid, or, alternatively, intentionally do so in a process called "gleeking''.

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