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Embryology, Anatomy, and Histology of the Salivary Glands


  • Salivary gland system composed of exocrine glanular tissue that include major salivary glands and minor salivary glands:

    • Major salivary glands include:

      • –

        Parotid gland

      • –

        Submandibular (submaxillary) gland

      • –

        Sublingual gland

    • Minor salivary (seromucous) glands include:

      • –

        Small aggregations within the submucosa of the upper aerodigestive tract

  • All salivary glands share basic structure but vary per site in their function, secretions, gross and microscopic features:

    • Major and intraoral minor salivary glands produce fluids that constitute oral saliva.

    • Minor salivary (seromucous) glands outside the oral cavity including sinonasal tract, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi are morphologically and functionally similar to oral minor salivary glands but in contrast do not contribute to saliva

Embryology of the Salivary Glands

  • All salivary glands develop as solid proliferations or buds from the epithelium of the stomodeum during the fifth and sixth weeks of gestation:

    • Stomodeal epithelium is part ectoderm and part endoderm.

  • Parotid gland:

    • First to form in humans

    • Arise from the ectodermal lining of the stomodeum from which the ducts, lumina, and acini evolve

    • Capsule and connective tissue develop from the surrounding mesenchyme

  • Submandibular gland:

    • Develops from buds of the endoderm in the floor of the stomodeum from which the ducts, lumina, and acini evolve

  • Sublingual gland:

    • Appears later than the other glands

    • Develop from buds of the endoderm in the paralingual sulcus from which the ducts, lumina, and acini evolve

  • Minor salivary glands (seromucous glands):

    • Develop later in gestational life (third month)

    • Endodermally derived

NOTE: Parotid gland is last of the salivary glands to be encapsulated resulting in either incorporation/entrapment of lymphoid tissue within the parotid or incorporation/entrapment of parotid ducts and acini within the periparotid lymph nodes epithelium. (See next chapter for discussion and illustrations.)

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