• 16 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a Mouth

The mouth wide open from the front, and cut down the middle, with sixteen parts to name.

Parts of a Mouth

Name Date

Tap any part to read, rename or leave it out

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Upper lip
  2. Lower lip
  3. Teeth
  4. Gums
  5. Tongue
  6. Uvula
  7. Tonsil
  8. Cheek
  9. Hard palate
  10. Soft palate
  11. Palatoglossal arch
  12. Palatopharyngeal arch
  13. Oropharynx
  14. Labial frenulum
  15. Lingual frenulum
  16. Floor of the mouth

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-05. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the parts of the face

All 16 parts on the diagram

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The open mouth 13

  1. Upper lip Anatomy calls the lips the labia.
  2. Lower lip Anatomy calls the lips the labia.
  3. Teeth Children have 20 baby teeth; adults have 32.
  4. Gums Anatomy calls the gums the gingivae.
  5. Tongue Moves food while you chew and shapes sounds when you talk.
  6. Uvula Hangs from the back edge of the soft palate.
  7. Tonsil Tonsils help defend the body against germs.
  8. Cheek The inside is lined with the same soft lining as the mouth.
  9. Hard palate Bone under the lining makes the front of the roof hard.
  10. Soft palate Rises when you swallow, closing off the nose.
  11. Palatoglossal arch It is the front border of the passage into the throat.
  12. Palatopharyngeal arch Lies behind the palatoglossal arch, with the tonsil between them.
  13. Oropharynx The part of the throat that lies behind the mouth.

Cut down the middle 3

  1. Labial frenulum A fold of lining joins each lip to the gum. It sits in the middle.
  2. Lingual frenulum Joins the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth.
  3. Floor of the mouth The tongue rests on it; the lingual frenulum joins them.

How this list was compiled: Every name and detail line checked on 2026-09-29 against OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 23.3 (The Mouth, Pharynx and Esophagus: lips or labia, labial frenulum, cheeks, gums or gingivae, hard and soft palate, uvula, palatoglossal and palatopharyngeal arches, palatine tonsils, tongue and lingual frenulum, oropharynx; 20 deciduous and 32 permanent teeth), https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/23-3-the-mouth-pharynx-and-esophagus, and against Wikipedia, text only: Human mouth, Uvula, Palatine tonsil, Palatoglossal arch, Frenulum of the tongue, Frenulum of lower lip and Soft palate. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-05. The open mouth is laid out after Gray's Anatomy (1918) fig. 1014, The mouth cavity, public domain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray1014.png), and the cut view after fig. 994 of the same book, Sagittal section of nose mouth, pharynx, and larynx, public domain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray994.png), mirrored and cropped to the mouth. Licence: own work

How it works

Open wide: the top drawing is the mouth from the front, from the lips to the throat. The bottom drawing cuts the mouth down the middle, to show the folds under the tongue and lip that a front view hides.

Read the full guide

Front first, then the middle

Numbers 1 to 8 are everyday words, from the lips to the cheek. Numbers 9 to 13 are the roof and the back of the mouth: the hard and soft palate and the two folds on each side of the throat. Numbers 14 to 16 are in the cut-open drawing.

  • The tonsil sits between two folds: the palatoglossal arch in front and the palatopharyngeal arch behind.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of the mouth called?

The lips, teeth and gums at the front; the hard and soft palate on the roof, with the uvula hanging at the back; the tonsils on each side; the tongue on the floor; the cheeks at the sides; and the throat behind.

What is the thing hanging at the back of the mouth?

The uvula, a small drop of tissue hanging from the middle of the back edge of the soft palate.

What is the roof of the mouth called?

The palate. Its bony front part is the hard palate and its soft back part is the soft palate, which rises when you swallow.

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