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Mouth The cheeks, tongue, hard palate, and soft palate frame the mouth, also called the oral cavity or buccal cavity. The mouth is involved in both mechanical and chemical digestion. Mechanical digestion consists of mastication (chewing), in which the tongue manipulates food, the teeth grind it, and saliva mixes with it. Mastication turns food into an easy-to-swallow bolus and breaks the food into smaller pieces so that there is more contact area for digestive enzymes. The cheeks make up the oral cavity's lateral walls. The outer covering of the cheeks is the skin, and the inner covering is the mucous membrane. This membrane is made up of nonkeratinized-stratified squamous epithelium; the multiple layers are resistant to abrasion. Between the skin and mucous membranes are connective tissue, fat tissue and buccinator muscles. The bounds of the oral cavity. This work by Cenveo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/). The lips, also called labia ("fleshy borders"), encircle the opening of the mouth. Their outer covering is skin, and their inner lining is mucous membrane. Between these two layers is the orbicularis oris muscle. Thelabial frenulum is a midline fold of mucous membrane that attaches the inner surface of each lip to the gum. When we chew food, the buccinator muscles in the cheeks and the orbicularis oris muscle in the lips contract, which keeps food between the lower and upper teeth. These muscles also play a role in speech. The area between the lips (or cheeks) and teeth is called the oral vestibule. The oral cavity is the area than runs between the gums and teeth and the entrance to the throat (oropharynx), also called the fauces ("passages"). If you puff out your cheeks, you can increase the size of the oral vestibule but not the oral cavity. The septum that separates the oral cavity and nasal cavity is called the palate. Anatomically, a septum (plural, septa) is a wall within a single organ or cavity that separates the space into distinct sides. For example, the nasal septum divides the nostrils. This is separating two distinct cavities. Structures of the oral cavity. This work by Cenveo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/). The palate, which forms the roof of the mouth, is what allows us to breathe while chewing food. The anterior part of the roof of the mouth is called the hard palate. It is created by the maxillae and palatine bones and is covered by mucous membrane. The hard palate makes up the bony wall between the oral and nasal cavities. The posterior part of the roof of the mouth, the soft palate, is also lined with mucous membrane. This arch-shaped muscular structure forms a dividing wall between the oropharynx and nasopharynx. The uvula (Latin for ‘little grape’) is a cone-shaped muscular process that hangs from the end of the soft palate. It plays a role in speech and articulation of words. It also plays a small role in preventing foods and liquids from entering the nasal cavity. Two muscular folds on each side of the base of the uvula extend down the lateral sides of the soft palate. The anterior fold is called the palatoglossal arch, which terminates next to the base of the tongue. The posterior fold, the palatopharyngeal arch, lies at the interface with the pharynx. Between these two arches on the lateral wall are the palatine tonsils. The lingual tonsilsare located at the base of the tongue. There are also many small, intrinsic salivary glands within the mucous membrane of the mouth and tongue. Their secretion is independent of the presence of food. These glands either open directly into the oral cavity or indirectly through short ducts. The labial glands in the lips, the buccal glands in the cheeks, the palatal glands in the palate, and the lingual glands in the tongue secrete small amounts of saliva.