Parotid gland

Question 1

Where is it?

Answer 1

lies partly over the outside + partly behind the ramus of the mandible, in front of the ear. It is the largest of the three major salivary glands + the only one to be affected by the viral infection mumps, caused by a paramyxovirus

Question 2

The tube

Answer 2

connecting the gland to the oral cavity, the Stenson duct, passes forwards across the surface of the masseter muscle + then inwards through the cheek to open into the buccal sulcus opposite the upper second molar

Question 3

It is innervated by

Answer 3

the glossopharyngeal nerve (ninth cranial nerve) + is the salivary gland most commonly associated with both benign + malignant