Gastrointestinal System

The Gastrointestinal System is a long tube that runs through the body and has specialized sections. It contains of a hollow strong tube that runs from the oral section, through the gullet, stomach, intestines, rectum and finally ends in the anus. There are certain accessory organs that help the gastrointestinal system through the secretion of enzymes that help in the digestion of foodstuff into nutrient components. These include the salivary glands, pancreas, liver, and the gall bladder (Canagatnam and Naftalin 1).

The main purpose of the gastrointestinal system is to breakdown food from the state that comes into the mouth to specific nutrients that can be taken into the body. The first part of the gastrointestinal system is the oral cavity where the food components are put. The oral section does the function of mastication, which is breaking down food mechanically through mastication and hewing movements of the teeth. In the oral cavity, the tongue helps to make food come into contact with the teeth (Canagatnam and Naftalin 3).

The second component of the gastrointestinal system is the salivary glands. Three salivary glands including sublingual, submandibular and parotid glands work hand-in-hand with the oral cavity through salivation to moisten the mouth in readiness of food and to soften the food for chewing and swallowing (Canagatnam and Naftalin 4).

The next component is the esophagus, which is a burly conduit roughly 25cm in length and 2cm in wide that starts on the pharynx passing through the diaphragm and ends in the stomach. The main function of the esophagus is the passage of food components from the pharynx into the stomach. The stomach is an expanded and J-shaped bag that situated in the part between the esophagus and small intestines. It has four divisions including the cardiac where the esophagus meets the stomach, the fundus that is the dilated portion and superior segment of the stomach, the body that is the largest section located between the fundus and the pylorus, a curved base, which is the last section. The stomach purposes include temporary stowage of food, mechanical digestion of components through churning, chemical breakdown of proteins through enzymes and acid killing germs and bugs through stomach acid and intake of components, for instance, alcohol (Starr and McMillan 199).

The small intestine is comprised of duodenum, ileum and jejunum. It is about 6 meters in length. The duodenum is the proximal part that has a C-shape and rests on top of the pancreas. Its function is to mix food by combining secretions from the pancreas and the liver. The jejunum functions as the part where the large part of digestion and absorption of food content takes place. The ileum is the lengthiest section of the small intestines and empties stomach contents towards caecum. The main function of the small intestines as a whole is that it performs the majority of absorption of digestion of nutrients (Starr and McMillan 203).

The large intestine is horseshoe shaped and starts at the end of the small intestines. It has the appendix, the caecum the sigmoid coons and the rectum. The caecum receives content from the ileum and starts compressing the food products into fecal material. The rectum is 15cms long and functions to hold fecal matter before releasing it to anorectal canal into the anus. Along the large intestines is the mucosa that has goblet cells that secret mucous to lubricate the fecal material as it become solid. The roles of the large intestines, as a whole, are accretion of content that is not absorbed to form fecal matter, digestion through microorganisms and development of gas in the intestines and reabsorption of water, sugar, salts and vitamins.

The liver occupies the right higher quadrant of the abdomen and is reddish-brown. The liver acts by filtering blood that travels in the intestinal system. It detoxifies several components that include the breakdown of estrogen and bilirubin. It performs synthetic functions; produce blood clotting factors and albumin. The liver functions through manufacture of bile and digestion of nutrients (Canagatnam and Naftalin 9).

The gall bladder, a hollow and peer shaped component is located in the subsequent part on the right side of the liver. It stores and concentrates bile, which is a thick fluid containing enzymes that help in dissolving fat in the intestines. The pancreas is lobular and pinkish-grey organ that is located behind the stomach. It performs the endocrine and exocrine functions. Endocrine functions refer to the production of hormones in the Islets. The pancreas produces fluids rich in inactive enzymes and carbohydrates that are meant to breakdown different components of food material (Starr and McMillan 205).

The last part is the anus and is located at the end of the gastrointestinal system. Its function is to let the fecal matter out of the body.

The gastrointestinal system in important to dental hygiene and vise-versa and dental hygienists must understand this fact. A disturbed gastrointestinal system does affect gums adversely and leads to tooth decay or tooth loosening because of diseases such as periodontal disease. On the other hand, poor dental hygiene causes poor digestion (Starr and McMillan 202). The oral tract is part of the gastrointestinal system, which is responsible for preparing food through chewing and salivation, for swallowing. After feeding, people must brush their teeth in order to avoid tooth and gum infections because of bacteria formation in the teeth. Much consumption of white bread, refined cereals, meat and white sugar leads to swamping of acid in the blood that in turn leads to periodontal disease. Therefore, a dental hygienist must understand the gastrointestinal system to be able to offer advice and better treatment to people with oral cavity problems that result from digestive issues (Starr and McMillan 203).

Works Cited

Canagatnam, Miruna and Richard J. Naftalin. Gastrointestinal System. London: CRC Press, 2004. Print.

Starr, Cecie and Beverly McMillan. Human Biology. New York: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.