Pathology of salivary glands include a wide spectrum of diseases such as inflammations (sialadenites of stone or bacterial etiology), autoimmune diseases (e.g. Sjögren’s syndrome), sialolithiases (existence of a stone inside the parenchyma or the draining system of major salivary glands, i.e. parotids, submandibular, sublingual salivary glands), as well as tumors either benign (e.g. pleomorphic adenomas), and malignant (e.g. mucoepidermoid carcinomas, adenoid cystic carcinomas, adenocarcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas etc.).

The oral and maxillofacial surgeon manages these diseases with either conventional and surgical means, and knowing par excellence the surgical anatomy and pathology of this region, performs usually delicate and of great accuracy surgical operations (such as partial superficial parotidectomy with facial nerve preparation, or microsurgical neuroanastomoses whenever the lesion’s malignancy and its engagement with vital branches of the facial nerve impose their neurectomy).