What prevents swallowed food from entering the airways?
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Also, what prevents food from entering the windpipe?
epiglottis
Also, what stops food going into lungs? When you breathe, air enters your mouth and moves into the pharynx. The air then goes down into your main airway (trachea) and into your lungs. A flap of tissue called the epiglottis sits over the top of the trachea. This flap blocks food and drink from going down into the trachea when you swallow.
Furthermore, what blocks the nasopharynx during swallowing?
Larynx and Epiglottis This is a soft flap of tissue at the roof of the mouth that closes the nasopharynx during swallowing. The tongue blocks the mouth, the soft palate closes off the passage to the nose and a flap called the epiglottis flops over the passage to the lungs.
What stops food from going the wrong way?
Your vocal cords and epiglottis help keep your airways closed off from food, drink or saliva. It's an automatic process, but sometimes something slips through the wrong way, especially when you're distracted.