Where Does Digestion Begin?

1. The incisors and canines (front teeth) bight and tear through the food's outer layer. Then, the molars, (back teeth) grind it into a small ball of food called bolus.

The food touches the tongue that has 10,000 taste buds, and it tells you what the food tastes like to you.

2. The salivary glands in your mouth and throat produce a liquidly substance; saliva which helps soften and moisten the bolus.

3. The tongue moves the bolus to the back of the mouth toward the first portion of the throat, the pharynx. Then you swallow, and it goes down into a muscular tube, the esophagus.

5. The esophagus is lined with mucus so the bolus will slide down easily, and it has muscles. it contracts and expands like rubber bands, and the bolus is squeezed toward the stomach. It takes about 10 seconds for the food to move from the mouth to the stomach.