An epithelium that is part of the mouth and lines the oral cavity, typically stratified squamous, and may be para-, ortho- or non- keratinized. Primary barrier between oral environment and deeper tissues.
Comment:
[development-note] "the avian oral epithelium has the developmental capacity to initiate tooth developmental programs with underlying grafts of non-avian oral ectomesenchyme" xsd:string {source="PMID:16488870"}
Synonyms:
exact_synonym:
epithelium of mucosa of mouth; epithelium of oral mucosa