The term MOUTH (or oral cavity) barely requires definition, but it is important to recognize the several different parts in and around the mouth. The PALATE is the roof of the mouth and is divided into the soft palate (at the rear) and the hard palate (at the front). The OROPHARYNX is that part of the mouth between the soft palate and the EPIGLOTTIS. Receptors in the oropharynx are important in signalling information about the foods and fluids present in the mouth to the brain.
Behind the oropharynx is the PHARYNX—which is what, in everyday language, one would call the throat. It is obviously involved in the mechanics of swallowing food and water but, unlike the oropharynx, is not involved in detecting the composition of foods and fluids. The pharynx leads to both the TRACHEA (the windpipe) and the OESOPHAGOUS (esophagus in American spelling) The epiglottis is the flap of cartilage that covers the GLOTTIS—which is the opening to the LARYNX and the TRACHEA. The larynx is the upper part of the windpipe and is important in SPEECH PRODUCTION; the trachea connects to the bronchi in the lungs. The epiglottis functions to guard the trachea during swallowing of food, which is of course destined to travel down the oesophagous to the STOMACH.
