DRAINAGE OF THE PAROTID GLAND

There are two ways in which obstruction commonly occurs to the flow into the buccal cavity from the parotid gland. The first is the growth, in the lumen of Stenson's duct, of a small stone that forms occasionally and lodges, more or less completely inhibiting the egress of parotid secretion. The second is the traumatic severing or inflammatory occlusion of the duct through which the saliva passes, keeping the secretion from finding an exit. The result in either case is the same. The parotid gland may be swollen to twice or three times its normal size by the accumulation of saliva, the secretion continuing to form and stretching the gland. The method of cure is to reestablish the flow from the parotid into the mouth. In the case of a stone, it can generally be removed with no harm either to the duct or to the gland, and the flow