Cheek

Cheek
Cheek of a female human
A diagram detailing human facial muscles, including the zygomaticus major (red), which is contained within the cheeks and is integral to the action of smiling
Details
Artery	Buccal artery
Nerve	Buccal nerve, buccal branch of the facial nerve
Identifiers
Latin	bucca
MeSH	D002610
TA98	A01.1.00.008 A05.1.01.014
TA2	116
FMA	46476
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

Look up cheek in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The cheeks (Latin: buccae) constitute the area of the face below the eyes and between the nose and the left or right ear. "Buccal" means relating to the cheek. In humans, the region is innervated by the buccal nerve. The area between the inside of the cheek and the teeth and gums is called the vestibule or buccal pouch or buccal cavity and forms part of the mouth. In other animals the cheeks may also be referred to as "jowls".

Structure

Humans

Cheeks are fleshy in humans,^[1] the skin being suspended by the chin and the jaws, and forming the lateral wall of the human mouth, visibly touching the cheekbone below the eye. The inside of the cheek is lined with a mucous membrane (buccal mucosa, part of the oral mucosa).

During mastication (chewing), the cheeks and tongue between them serve to keep the food between the teeth.

Other animals

The cheeks are covered externally by hairy skin, and internally by stratified squamous epithelium. This is mostly smooth, but may have caudally directed papillae (e.g., in ruminants).^[2] The mucosa is supplied with secretions from the Buccal glands, which are arranged in superior and inferior groups. In carnivores, the superior buccal gland is large and discrete: the Zygomatic gland. During mastication (chewing), the cheeks and tongue between them serve to keep the food between the teeth.

Some animals such as squirrels and hamsters use the buccal pouch to carry food or other items.

In some vertebrates, markings on the cheek area, particularly immediately beneath the eye, often serve as important distinguishing features between species or individuals.

Society and culture

The cheek is the most common location from which a DNA sample can be taken. (Some saliva is collected from inside the mouth, e.g. using a cotton-tipped rod called a swab or "Q-Tip". The procedure of collecting a sample in that way can be called a "cheek swab").

See also

• Blushing
• Cheek augmentation
• Cheek kissing
• Erythema infectiosum
• High cheekbones
• Slapped cheek
• Tongue-in-cheek
• Zygomatic bone

References

External links

• Media related to Cheeks at Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cheeks.

This page was last edited on 27 February 2024, at 21:23