Soft palate - wikipedia Soft palate Soft palate Upper respiratory system, with soft palate labeled near center. Details Artery lesser palatine arteries, ascending palatine artery Nerve pharyngeal branch of vagus nerve, medial pterygoid nerve, lesser palatine nerves, glossopharyngeal nerve Identifiers Latin Ronalum molle, velum palatinum MeSH D010160 TA A05. 1.01. 104 A05. 2.01. 003 FMA 55021 Anatomical terminology ( edit on Wikidata ) The soft palate ( also known as the velum or muscular palate ) is, in mammals, 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. Contents 1 Structure 1.1 Muscles 2 Function 2.1 Speech 2.2 Modelling 3 Clinical significance 3.1 Disease 4 Additional images 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Structure Muscles Dissection of the muscles of the palate from behind. The five muscles of the soft palate play important roles in swallowing and breathing. The muscles are : Tensor veli palatini, which is involved in swallowing Palatoglossus, involved in swallowing Palatopharyngeus, involved in breathing Levator veli palatini, involved in swallowing Musculus uvulae, which moves the uvula These muscles are innervated by the pharyngeal plexus via the vagus nerve, with the exception of the tensor veli palatini. The tensor veli palatini is innervated by cranial nerve 5 branch V3 ( which is the mandibular division of the trigeminal cranial nerve ). Function The soft palate is moveable, consisting of muscle fibers sheathed in mucous membrane. It is responsible for closing off the nasal passages during the act of swallowing, and also for closing off the airway. During sneezing, it protects the nasal passage by diverting a portion of the excreted substance to the mouth. In humans, the uvula hangs from the end of the soft palate. Research shows that the uvula is not actually involved in the snoring process. This has been shown through inconsistent results from uvula removal surgery. Snoring is more closely associated with fat deposition in the pharynx, enlarged tonsils of Waldeyer 's ring, or deviated septum problems. Touching the uvula or the end of the soft palate evokes a strong gag reflex in most people. Speech A speech sound made with the middle part of the tongue ( dorsum ) touching the soft palate is known as a velar consonant. It is possible for the soft palate to retract and elevate during speech to separate the oral cavity ( mouth ) from the nasal cavity in order to produce the oral speech sounds. If this separation is incomplete, air escapes through the nose, causing speech to be perceived as nasal. Modelling Within the microstructure of the soft palate lie a variety of variably - oriented fibers that create a nonuniform surface with a nonuniform density distribution. The tissue has been characterized as viscoelastic, nonlinear, and anisotropic in the direction of the fibers. Young modulus values range from 585 Pa at the posterior free edge of the soft palate to 1409 Pa where the soft palate attaches to the maxilla. These properties are useful when quantifying the effects of corrective orthopedic devices such as the Hotz Plate on cleft lip. Quantitative analyses have been done on bilateral and unilateral cleft palate to better understand geometric differences in cleft palate throughout the course of its development and correction. Despite the difficulty in finding common, comparable landmarks between normal soft palates and cleft palates, analytical methods have been devised to assess differences in degree of curvature of the alveolar crest, two - dimensional and three - dimensional surface area, and slope of the alveolar crest. Finite element analysis has demonstrated effective modeling of soft - palate extension and movement. It has also been an effective tool for evaluating the craniofacial effects of corrective orthopedic devices and cleft lip. Clinical significance Disease Main article : Oral pathology Pathology of the soft palate includes mucosal lesions such as pemphigus vulgaris, herpangina and migratory stomatitis, and muscular conditions such as the congenital cleft palate and cleft uvula. Palatal petechiae. Petechiae on the soft palate are mainly associated with streptococcal pharyngitis, and as such it is an uncommon but highly specific finding. 10 to 30 percent of palatal petechiae cases are estimated to be caused by suction, which can be habitual or secondary to fellatio. Additional images Soft palate without tonsils ( after tonsillectomy ) Sagittal section of nose mouth, pharynx, and larynx. The mouth cavity. The cheeks have been slit transversely and the tongue pulled forward. Lateral wall of nasal cavity. ( Soft palate visible in lower right ) See also Wikimedia Commons has media related to Soft palate. This article uses anatomical terminology ; for an overview, see Anatomical terminology. Hard palate Palate Tonsil Palatine uvula References Jump up ^ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK386/ Jump up ^ Drake, Richard L. ; Vogl, Wayne ; Tibbitts, Adam W.M. Mitchell ; illustrations by Richard ; Richardson, Paul ( 2005 ). Gray 's anatomy for students. Philadelphia : Elsevier / Churchill Livingstone. p. 1000. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8089 - 2306 - 0. Jump up ^ Birch, M.J. ; Srodon, P.D. ( 2009 ). `` Biomechanical Properties of the Human Soft Palate ''. The Cleft Palate - Craniofacial Journal. 46 ( 3 ) : 268 -- 74. doi : 10.1597 / 08 - 012.1. PMID 19642755. Jump up ^ Berkowitz, S ; Krischer, J ; Pruzansky, S ( 1974 ). `` Quantitative analysis of cleft palate casts. A geometric study ''. The Cleft palate journal. 11 : 134 -- 61. PMID 4524356. Jump up ^ Zadik, Yehuda ; Drucker, Scott ; Pallmon, Sarit ( 2011 ). `` Migratory stomatitis ( ectopic geographic tongue ) on the floor of the mouth ''. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 65 ( 2 ) : 459 -- 60. doi : 10.1016 / j. jaad. 2010.04. 016. PMID 21763590. Jump up ^ Fact Sheet : Tonsillitis from American Academy of Otolaryngology. `` Updated 1 / 11 ''. Retrieved November 2011 Jump up ^ Brook, I ; Dohar, J.E. ( 2006 ). `` Management of group a beta - hemolytic streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis in children ''. The Journal of family practice. 55 ( 12 ) : S1 -- 11 ; quiz S12. PMID 17137534. Jump up ^ Page 134 in : Michael Glick ; Greenberg, Martin Harry ; Burket, Lester W. ( 2003 ). Burket 's oral medicine : diagnosis & treatment. Hamilton, Ont : BC Decker. ISBN 1 - 55009 - 186 - 7. External links Image at WebMD Anatomy figure : 34 : 01 - 03 at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center - `` Diagram of the regions of the oral cavity. '' Anatomy of the mouth Lip Vermilion border Frenulum of lower lip Labial commissure of mouth Philtrum Cheek Buccal fat pad Roof Hard palate Soft palate Palatine raphe Incisive papilla Gums Interdental papilla Gingival sulcus Gingival margin Gingival fibers Junctional epithelium Mucogingival junction Sulcular epithelium Stippling Periodontium Cementum Gingiva Periodontal ligament Glands Parotid gland duct Submandibular gland duct Sublingual gland duct Teeth see tooth anatomy Tongue Top Taste bud Median sulcus Terminal sulcus Foramen cecum Lingual tonsils Underside Frenulum Fimbriated fold Sublingual caruncle Glossoepiglottic folds Lingual septum Back of mouth Oropharynx fauces Plica semilunaris of the fauces Uvula Palatoglossal arch Palatopharyngeal arch Tonsillar fossa Palatine tonsil Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soft_palate&oldid=835161914 '' Categories : Palate Human mouth anatomy Speech organs Hidden categories : Pages with unresolved properties Articles needing more detailed references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from July 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Bosanski Deutsch ދިވެހިބަސް Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français 한국어 हिन्दी עברית Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Русский Simple English Slovenščina Српски / srpski Svenska Türkçe Українська اردو 中文 16 more Edit links This page was last edited on 6 April 2018, at 23 : 03. 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Question: soft tissue structure hanging from the roof of the mouth
Answer: soft palate (also known as the velum or muscular palate)