dig10121


	The mouth and teeth are the first organs of the digestive tract. The teeth are bones whose primary purpose is to grind food in to easy bits that the body can digest. In the mouth, a base known as saliva helps begin to separate the chemical make up of food. There are certain organs that are located in the mouth, such as the uvula, the tongue, and the frenulum ( the organ that connects the tongue to the base of the mouth ). The walls of the inner cheeks are lined with mucous which help protect the food from bacteria, and also protect the cheeks form saliva.

		The Pharynx is the passage way through which many tubes run from the mouth and the nose to the upper body. Some of these tubes are the nasopharynx, which runs oxygen to the lungs, and the oropharynx, which also runs oxygen to the lungs.

The esophagus runs from the pharynx to the diaphragm, to the top of the stomach. The Esophagus is about 25 cm ( 10 inches). The esophagus is really a large muscle which pushes food down to the stomach. The walls of the esophagus are lined with four layers of thin tissue. These membranes are, the mucosa, the submucosa, the muscularis externa, and the serosa

The stomach is a J- shaped muscle. The stomach acts as a churn. There are two sphincters, circular muscles that act as valves that are placed outside organs, surrounding the two openings of the stomach. Chemical breakdown of food begins in the stomach.

The constant churning helps allow digestion in the stomach improve. There are several of acids located in the stomach. One of these acids is known as gastric juice. Gastric juice is manufactured in gastric glands located in the stomach. With gastric juice and other acids being mixed with the food, it breaks down and become a creamy substance known as chyme. After being transformed into chyme , food leaves a sphincter to the small intestine.


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