Question: where would the salivary glands be?

Jennifer Paxton answered on 2 Mar 2018:

Great question! Well, you actually have 6 salivary glands, 3 different pairs, one on each side of your face.

1. The first pair sit just in front of your ears – these are the biggest and they are called your parotid glands (meaning ‘by-ear’).

2. The next pair are under your tongues and are called the Sublingual (meaning under-tongue).

3. The last pair are under your jawbone and are called the submandibular glands (meaning under-mandible (jawbone)

(these are great examples of how things are actually named in anatomy by where you can find them in the body!)

All the salivary glands are connected to your mouth by little tubes and so when you think of your favourite food or smell your favourite dinner being cooked have you noticed that you often feel an increase in the amount of saliva in your mouth? The salivary glands start to produce saliva and send it to your mouths in anticipation of you eating! Cool, eh?!