Fordyce Spots

This week in class, we were talking about the first part of digestion. One term that was new to me was Fordyce spots. These are modified sebaceous glands that are not associated with hair follicles, and yet, are found in the submucosa just lateral to the corner of the mouth and in the cheeks opposite the molar teeth. This was a new term to me because I assumed that all sebaceous glands were equal. It was new for me, not only to learn that these are really sebaceous glands, but also that these spots are visible to the eye. It's interesting that these are visible when they are found in the submucosa layer.