Sympathetic innervation to the salivary glands is from spinal cord level T1. Preganglionic sympathetic fibers enter the sympathetic trunk and ascend to synapse in the superior cervical sympathetic ganglion (Fig. 8.268). Postganglionic fibers hop onto adjacent blood vessels and nerves to reach the glands.
The roof of the oral cavity consists of the palate, which has two parts—an anterior hard palate and a posterior soft palate (Fig. 8.269).