How do tonsil stones form
Tonsil Stones or tonsilloliths are irregularly shaped, whitish-yellow, foul-smelling globs of mucous and bacteria that get caught in the back of the throat. The tonsils usually appear like small, dimpled golf balls set on either side of the back of the throat. Children with large tonsils and deep crypts often get food particles trapped in there. Because saliva contains digestive enzymes, trapped food begins to break down. Particularly, the starch or carbohydrate part of the food melts away, leaving firmer, harder remains of food in the tonsils. The tonsils also trap other mouth debris such as bacteria and old cells from the surface of the mouth’s lining. Some of these cells contain small amounts of keratin, the same substance found in fingernails and rhinoceros horns. Whatever the nature of the debris, it is then attacked by white blood cells. The leaves the crevices of the tonsil strewn with hardened remains. Most people swallow this material without ever noticing it, while it is stil
A tonsillolith (also called tonsil stone, tonsillar debris, or calculus of the tonsil) is a piece (or more commonly, a cluster) of calcareous matter which forms in the rear of the mouth, in the crevasses (called tonsillar crypts) of the palatine tonsils (which are what most people commonly refer to as simply tonsils). Tonsil stones, it is theorized, are the result of a combination of any of the following: dead white blood cells oral bacteria overactive salivary glands Protruding tonsilloliths have the feel of a foreign object, lodged between the outside of wisdom teeth and the temporomandibular joint region of the fleshed jaw. They may be an especially uncomfortable nuisance, but are not often harmful. They are one possible cause of halitosis. Tonsilloliths can be removed by the patient. A medicine dropper (especially one with a curved tip) can help to suck out the stones if they are small enough. Embedded tonsilloliths (which develop inside tonsils) are not easily removed, but will na
