Go ahead and run your tongue along the hard palate (right behind your teeth). )If you go "down the slope" further back in your hard palate, you'll feel the "hard" surface start to go soft (right about the area where your tongue's tip can reach). How would you touch things, and how would you experience the world? Feel that little ridge/gap in the middle of the hard palate? The soft palate is largely responsible for closing off the nasal passages during swallowing, and it also can close off the airway when needed. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little trip we took on the roof of your mouth, and maybe came away knowing something you didn't previously know (even the phobia, which is very real -- anyone who has it, please comment and tell us about it.) If it's small, it's of little to no consequence, but if the "cleft palate" is larger, it could lead to speech impediments/trouble swallowing, etc.. (We'll do a separate, more in-depth post on cleft palates -- and cleft lips -- sometime in the future, as it's too large a topic to give justice to here.
That's also the part that always gets burned by the pizza, too. In fact, in terms of taste, it would appear that the roof of the mouth was considered a major factor in taste (we now know the tongue is the big kahuna in this respect, but the soft palate does have quite a few taste buds, and, because it's separate from the tongue, "soft palate taste" tends to stand out).
The soft palate and uvula are important aspects of the sounds we make, but the most interesting part is the tongue and the hard palate, which is an essential combination in regards to certain sounds (primarily T, D, and J.) A feathered bird is more than likely a fallen fledgling.
All right, now we know what it's called, and the general areas involved, so let's find out what's up there, and what the palate is essentially used for.Well, like the rest of your mouth's interior, there are a myriad of taste buds and minor salivary glands in the soft palate. Actually, to take it a step further, we have the hard palate (essentially the front) and the soft palate (the back). Don't: Try to raise the baby bird on your own. Your child may also be enjoying all the attention she is getting, and therefore be motivated to keep engaging in her squirrel-like eating behaviour!To see whether this may be the reason for your childâs behaviour, try sitting with but only speaking to your child when she swallows her food, and give her lots of praise when she does this.If your childâs behaviour is motivated by attention, she should soon learn that swallowing in a timely manner gets her lots of it, but storing food doesnât!This will also teach your child that talking only happens when mouths have been cleared of food (remember the âno talking with your mouth full" rule!