The palate is one of the parts of the body of the human being and of many animals that is located inside the mouth and whose function is to separate the nasal cavity from the oral cavity to allow the process of the food or nutrition that is consumed .
Part of the body of animals and humans that is inside the mouth and displays important functions such as allowing food
The palate is the upper part of the oral cavity that generally presents some hardness or rigidity and that can be reached by the tongue when it is moved upwards.
The palate can be divided into two parts: the anterior part or the hard palate (made of bone) and the posterior section or the soft palate.
Hard palate and soft palate. Characteristics
The hard palate is made up of two types of bones: the maxilla and the palatal bone, which are covered by a mucous membrane, while the maxilla also makes up the upper jaw. The plates of the palatine bones form both the floor of the nose and the back of the palate. And the vertical plates of these bones make up the nasal cavity.
For its part, the white palate is covered by epithelial tissue, which is a type of tissue present in our body and which is responsible for covering both internal and external surfaces. Provides protection to certain parts, produces secretions and regulates materials near it. The uvula, which is a mass that hangs in the middle of this palate, helps to prevent what is eaten from going directly through the passage of breath.
Among the most important functions of both stand out: separating the oral cavity from the nasal, it helps to breathe and chew at the same time, it also helps to sing.
Formation in the womb and complications of its development
These palates develop in the womb itself as the fetus grows there. It roughly starts in the fifth week. Incorrect training can occur that happens to five hundred thousand babies according to one statistic.
The cause is unknown at the moment, although a combination of environmental elements as well as inherited genetic traits is wielded, and can be corrected with a surgical intervention once the child is born.
When the palate fails to form properly in a person (this condition being evident at the birth of the child and not being able to be generated later), we are in the presence of that oral alteration known as cleft lip, which means complications of different types for the process of the food or food intake. This is so since cleft lip means that the oral and nasal cavities are not correctly divided and therefore food can easily pass from the mouth to the nose.
Together with the tongue, tonsils, teeth and uvula, the palate forms what is known as the oral cavity or mouth, the space through which the feeding process begins as it is the place through which food is inserted into the organism.
The palate is made up of endless nerve endings that make it an irregular surface to the touch and somewhat greasy or moist due to the presence of different natural fats and saliva, elements that both collaborate in the first stages of digestion. The palate usually presents, like the tongue, a pink or reddish color, other types of colors being an indication of some type of condition.
But the concept also has other uses in our language, of a symbolic nature, which precisely follow from its original reference.
Taste with which food flavors are perceived and sensitivity when evaluating something
Thus, the concept allows to indicate the taste with which the taste of food is perceived.
"Maria has a very fine palate, she does not like little elaborate foods", "my palate is never wrong, this food has a lot of added salt".
And we also use it frequently to account for the sensitivity to discern or value a thing.
"My son has an excellent palate for music."
