Explain the process of digestion in the buccal cavity with a note on the arrangement of teeth.

Explanation

(i) Digestion in buccal cavity: In buccal cavity, the food is mixed with saliva of three pairs of salivary glands. Saliva is formed of `99.5%` water, `0.2%` minerals and an amylolytic enzyme salivary amylase (earlier called ptyalin). It hydrolyses about `30-40%` of starch into maltose, isomaltose and limit dextrin at 6.8pH and presence of chloride ions.
`"Starch"overset("salivary amylase")underset(6.8pH,Cl^(-))rarr "Maltose"+"Isomaltose"+"Limit Dextrin"`
(ii) Arrangement of teeth in Buccal Cavity: In man, teeth are present in both the jaws and are thecodont, diphyodont and heterodont.
(a) Thecodont.
(b) Diphyodont.
(c) Heterodont. In man there are four types of teeth- Incisors, Canines, Premolars and Molars. These are homologous structures but are structurally different to perform different functions e.g.