Fun Facts About the Tongue
Date: October 15, 2018Category: Author: Debra Quailes
It’s not often we think about just how important the tongue is. Eating and talking are such natural activities to us, its easy to take for granted what makes them possible!
Interesting facts about your amazing tongue!
Like the heart, the tongue is both and organ AND a muscle. More specifically, its made up of eight muscles! This makes your tongue the most flexible muscle in your body.
It isn’t just a lump on the floor of your mouth, its actually anchored to a bone at the back of your throat called the hyoid bone.
You probably already know that the tongue is responsible for tasting sweet, sour, bitter, and salty things. What you may not know is that the tastebuds that detect all those individual flavors aren’t in specific zones on the tongue. They’re scattered all throughout the tongue, cheeks, and even the inside of the lips!
Speaking of taste buds, the human eye cant see those! So what are those little bumps, you ask? They’re called papillae, and each can carry up to two hundred and fifty taste buds alone!
Taste buds also have a life expectancy of just two weeks before they are replaced by new ones.
The tongue is not only a very unique part of the body on its own, but also to each person with one! Tongue prints are as different per person as fingerprints! Isn’t that amazing?
Another amazing fact about the tongue is that it has a super power of sorts… It is the fastest healing organ in the whole body!
Without it, you would not be able to speak. Try reading even one sentence in this article without moving your tongue.
Not gonna be of much use other than some vowel sounds, huh? The tongue is vital for speech and without it, talking would be a very frustrating endeavor.
The tongue also aids in the first stage of digestion; chewing and swallowing. It moves your food around the mouth to be ground up by the teeth, then sticks it all together with saliva, and shapes it into an easily swallowed shape called a bolus. All without you even thinking about it!
Dental hygiene is another way it is used. It sweeps away food particles and helps keep your teeth free of debris that would otherwise settle and ferment on them.
I hope you have learned a lot from reading this! Remember to brush your tongue when you floss and brush your teeth, and don’t forget your regular dental checkups and cleanings!