Soft palate

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Template:Infobox Anatomy

The soft palate (or velum, or muscular palate) is the soft tissue constituting the back of the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is distinguished from the hard palate at the front of the mouth in that it does not contain bone.

Function

It is movable, consisting of muscle fibers sheathed in mucous membrane, and is responsible for closing off the nasal passages during the act of swallowing.

The soft palate's motion during breathing is responsible for the sound of snoring. Touching the soft palate evokes a strong gag response in most people.

The soft palate also functions during speech to separate the oral cavity (mouth) from the nose, in order to produce the oral speech sounds. If this separation is incomplete, air escapes through the nose during speech and the speech is perceived as hypernasal.

Muscles of soft palate

Muscle	Action	Nerve
levator veli palatini	deglutition	vagus
tensor veli palatini	deglutition	mandibular nerve
palatoglossus	respiration	vagus
palatopharyngeus	respiration	vagus
musculus uvulae	moves uvula	vagus

Additional images

Soft palate without tonsils (after tonsillectomy)
Mouth (oral cavity)
Mouth
Sagittal section of nose mouth, pharynx, and larynx.
The mouth cavity. The cheeks have been slit transversely and the tongue pulled forward.