Local Anesthesia Evaluator Practice Exam 2026 - Free Anesthesia Practice Questions and Study Guide

The main idea is that the ophthalmic division (the first branch of the trigeminal nerve) has a branch called the lacrimal nerve that reaches the lacrimal gland. Tears are produced by the lacrimal gland, and although the gland’s secretomotor (parasympathetic) fibers originate from the facial nerve, they reach the gland by hitchhiking along the parasympathetic route to the lacrimal nerve via the pterygopalatine ganglion and then travel with the lacrimal nerve to the gland. That makes the lacrimal gland the one associated with the ophthalmic branch.

The other glands are linked to different nerves: submandibular and sublingual glands receive parasympathetic fibers via the chorda tympani (facial nerve) traveling with the lingual branch of V3, and the parotid gland receives parasympathetics via the glossopharyngeal nerve through the otic ganglion and the auriculotemporal branch.