Mouth

The main purpose of the mouth is to injest food. The mouth is the beginning of the digestive process. The first part of this process is called, "mechanical digestion." This refers to the biting, chewing and grinding process of the food by the mouth. The mouth contains the tongue and teeth, which allow you to bite and chew food. The tongue helps push the food to the back of the mouth and the saliva glands which help to wet the food. The saliva glands also produce an acid that helps to digest the food. The tongue contains the taste buds which control the sense of taste. The four areas of taste on the tongue are sour, sweet, bitter and salty. There are four main kinds of teeth and each has a special purpose in helping to get the food ready for the stomach. The front teeth and the incisors bite the food off into larger chunks and get it in the mouth. Then the pre molars begin to grind the food and mix it with the saliva. Then the molors work the food into a ball of finely ground, more digestible, easier to swallow "bolus" of food. The tongue then helps to push the food back farther into the mouth where it goes it goes down the esophagus by swallowing. The food is then carried through the esophagus into the stomach. In the stomach the chemical digestion process begins.