Stratified squamous epithelium - Did you know?
The two main components of the oral mucosa are 1) the oral epithelium called stratified squamous epithelium and 2) the underlying connective tissue, also called lamina propria.
🤨But, why is the oral epithelium termed “stratified squamous”?
The oral epithelium is described as being a "stratified squamous epithelium".
The term "stratified" refers to the oral epithelium being stacked in layers. Epithelium having 2 or more layers of cells are said to be "stratified".
The term "squamous" was derived from cells being compared to the scales of a fish. In general, squamous cells are flat with their height being lesser than their width.
Interestingly, the oral epithelium is described as being squamous based on the shape of the cells on the upper surface (which are flat). The lower most layer of cells (in the stratified squamous epithelium) called the basal cells, are cuboidal or low columnar in shape.
🔎You could dig deeper into the topic
In fact, we delve a lot more deeper into this topic in our cheatsheet/note -> Oral Mucosa - An Introduction. We talk about,
components of the oral mucosa,
what is connective tissue,
types of stratified squamous epithelium,
layers of stratified squamous epithelium,
oral epithelium - proliferation
You could read in detail about Oral Mucosa - An Introduction with our Revision Ninja - Oral Histology Course bundle!
💡Note
Apart from Notes, you could also get access to numerous MCQs and Videos with English captions/subtitles on various topics in Histology.
📚Other study resources on HackDentistry!
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