The soft palate
Soft palate and uvula · palatum molle
The soft back part of the roof of your mouth, ending in the dangling uvula.
What it does
The soft palate is a flap of muscle behind the hard palate. When you swallow, it rises to seal off the back of the nose so food and drink don't come out of your nostrils. The uvula hangs from its middle. It also helps shape some speech sounds.
Surprising fact
Snoring is largely the vibration of the soft palate and uvula as air flows past them during sleep.
Why it matters
A cleft palate, where the two halves don't join before birth, affects feeding and speech, and is repaired with surgery in infancy.
Nearby
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Sources
Drafted with AI help; awaiting a human fact-check against these sources.
Open in the 3D atlas · Suggest a correction · Not medical advice.
3D models: Z-Anatomy & BodyParts3D (CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2.1 JP). Card text CC BY 4.0.