Palate

Palate, roof of the mouth, consisting of two portions, the hard palate in front and the soft palate behind. The hard palate is formed of periosteum covered by mucous membrane; it arches over to meet the gums in front and on either side. The soft palate is a movable fold of mucous membrane enclosing muscular fibres; its sides blend with the pharynx, but its lower border is free. It is suspended from the rear of the hard palate so as to form an incomplete wall or division between the mouth and the pharynx that, in swallowing, is raised to close the entrance to the nasal passages.

A small cone-shaped structure, the uvula, hangs from the lower border of the soft palate. The space left between the arches of the palate on the two sides is called the isthmus of the fauces. It is bounded above by the free margin of the palate, below by the tongue, and on each side by the pillars of the soft palate and tonsils.

The condition called cleft palate, the result of imperfect development in the embryo, may be remedied by surgery.