Palate

From ArticleWorld

The palate is the part of the mouth that represents the roof or top of the mouth area as well as the separation between the mouth and the nasal structures.

Anatomy

The roof of the mouth, or the palate, is actually an embryological connection between two separate bony and soft tissue structures. The covering of the palate is mucus membrane material and, as a result, is thin, is relatively delicate when compared to skin and is usually kept moist by saliva.

The palate can be separated into two parts. The hard palate is named so because there is a bony plate that makes this part of the palate rigid. The entire undersurface is inside the mouth cavity. The soft palate is an extension of the hard palate and consists of relatively more flexible connective tissue covered with a mucous membrane. The uvula is a piece of connective tissue covered in mucous membrane that dangles from the posterior aspect of the soft palate. The soft palate extends into the pharynx.

Function

Aside from anatomically separating the nasal cavity from the mouth, the palate performs two particular functions. The hard palate participates in the articulation of speech. The position and force the tongue places on the palate helps determine how a sound will be articulated. The palate also participates in eating. While masticating food, the hard palate is sometimes used by the tongue in order to crush food between the two surfaces into smaller, more chewable pieces.

Disorders

The palate can be imperfectly formed while the fetus is in utero resulting in varying degrees of cleft palate. Very early in pregnancy, there are two pieces of tissue that join with what eventually becomes the nasal septum and the palate becomes a single entity. Under certain genetic or environmental conditions, this connection fails to occur. A cleft palate is often associated with a cleft in the upper lip. These conditions together represent the fourth most common physical birth defect. The result of a cleft palate, if untreated, is that the afflicted individual has eating difficulties as well as speech difficulties.