On each side, the lingual artery originates from the external carotid artery in the neck adjacent to the tip of the greater horn of the hyoid bone. It forms an upward bend and then loops downward and forward to pass deep to the hyoglossus muscle, and accompanies the muscle through the aperture (oropharyngeal triangle) formed by the margins of the mylohyoid, superior constrictor, and middle constrictor muscles, and enters the floor of the oral cavity.
The lingual artery then travels forward in the plane between the hyoglossus and genioglossus muscles to the apex of the tongue.
In addition to the tongue, the lingual artery supplies the sublingual gland, gingiva, and oral mucosa in the floor of the oral cavity.
The tongue is drained by dorsal lingual and deep lingual veins (Fig. 8.260).
The deep lingual veins are visible through the mucosa on the undersurface of the tongue. Although they accompany the lingual arteries in anterior parts of the tongue, they become separated from the arteries posteriorly by the hyoglossus muscles. On each side, the deep lingual vein travels with the hypoglossal nerve [XII] on the external surface of the hyoglossus muscle and passes out of the floor of the oral cavity through the aperture (oropharyngeal triangle) formed by the margins of the mylohyoid, superior constrictor, and middle constrictor muscles. It joins the internal jugular vein in the neck.
The dorsal lingual vein follows the lingual artery between the hyoglossus and genioglossus muscles and, like the deep lingual vein, drains into the internal jugular vein in the neck.
Innervation of the tongue is complex and involves a number of nerves (Figs. 8.260 and 8.261).
Taste (SA) and general sensation from the pharyngeal part of the tongue are carried by the glossopharyngeal nerve [IX].
The glossopharyngeal nerve [IX] leaves the skull through the jugular foramen and descends along the posterior surface of the stylopharyngeus muscle. It passes around the lateral surface of the stylopharyngeus and then slips through the posterior aspect of the gap (oropharyngeal triangle) between the superior constrictor, middle constrictor, and mylohyoid muscles. The nerve then passes forward on the oropharyngeal wall just below the inferior pole of the palatine tonsil and enters the pharyngeal part of the tongue deep to the styloglossus and hyoglossus muscles. In addition to taste and general sensation on the posterior one-third of the tongue, branches creep anterior to the terminal sulcus of the tongue to carry taste (SA) and general sensation from the vallate papillae.
General sensory innervation from the anterior two-thirds or oral part of the tongue is carried by the lingual nerve, which is a major branch of the mandibular nerve [V3]. It originates in the infratemporal fossa and passes anteriorly into the floor of the oral cavity by passing through the gap (oropharyngeal triangle) between the mylohyoid, superior constrictor, and middle constrictor muscles (Fig. 8.262). As it travels through the gap, it passes immediately inferior to the attachment of the superior constrictor to the mandible and continues forward on the medial surface of the mandible adjacent to the last molar tooth and deep to the gingiva. In this position, the nerve can be palpated against the bone by placing a finger into the oral cavity.
The lingual nerve then continues anteromedially across the floor of the oral cavity, loops under the submandibular duct, and ascends into the tongue on the external and superior surface of the hyoglossus muscle.