Mouth Variation
Bifid uvula
The uvula, the dangling flap at the back of the throat, is split into two lobes, in about 1 to 2% of people. On its own it is harmless, but in a baby it can be a clue to a hidden cleft of the palate.
1–2% of people
Mouth and throat
Tongue tricks, saliva, the palate, tonsils, and the throat.
19 oddities. 15 have this as their primary region.
Nerves Involuntary
Brain freeze
A short, sharp headache in the forehead a few seconds after cold food or drink touches the roof of the mouth. It passes in under a minute.
About 30–40% of people
Mouth Trick
Cloverleaf tongue
Folding the tongue into three lobes, like a clover leaf. Between 10% and 15% of people in Western samples can do it. It is usually called the hardest tongue shape.
10–15% (Western samples)
Skin Involuntary
Fordyce spots
Tiny pale yellow or white bumps, 1 to 3 mm across, on the edge of the lips or inside the cheeks. They are ordinary oil glands in a place without hair. Most adults have them.
70–80% of adults
Mouth Reflex
Gag reflex
Touch the back of the tongue or the soft palate and the throat clamps shut. It keeps things out of the airway. Up to a third of healthy people barely have it, and that is normal.
Present in about 2 of 3 people, weak or absent in 10–37%
Mouth Variation
Geographic tongue
Smooth red patches with pale borders that form a map on the tongue and move around over days and weeks. About 1 to 3% of people have it, and it is harmless.
1–3% of people
Mouth Trick
Gleeking
Shooting a thin jet of saliva from under the tongue, sometimes a metre or more. About 35% of people do it by accident now and then. Only about 1% can do it reliably on command.
~1% on command Icky
Mouth Trick
Gorlin's sign
Touching the tip of your nose with your tongue. About 10% of people can do it. About half of people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome can, so doctors use it as a quick check for stretchy connective tissue.
~10% of people
Mouth Involuntary
Inability to burp
Some people have never burped in their lives. Gas cannot pass a ring of muscle at the top of the food pipe, so it stays trapped. This causes gurgling, bloating, and painful pressure. Since 2019 it has a name and a treatment.
Unknown; probably uncommon
Mouth Trick
Khechari mudra
A hatha yoga practice in which the tongue is turned back and up behind the soft palate, into the space at the back of the nose. Very few people can do it without months or years of stretching.
Very rare without training
Mouth Trick
Pointed tongue
Making the tip of the tongue narrow and sharp, like a pencil point. About 55% of people can do it. After rolling, it is the most common tongue trick.
~55%
Mouth Rare ability
Supertasters
About a quarter of people taste bitter compounds far more strongly than everyone else. They have more taste buds and a particular version of one gene, and they often dislike coffee, dark greens, and grapefruit.
About 25% of people
Mouth Trick
Tongue folding
Folding the tip of the tongue backward over itself inside the mouth. Between 14% and 27.5% of people can do it.
14–27.5%
Mouth Trick
Tongue rolling
Between 65% and 84% of people can curl the sides of the tongue up into a tube. For decades it was taught as a simple one-gene trait. It is not.
65–84% of people
Mouth Variation
Tongue tie
A short or tight band of tissue under the tongue that holds the tip down, present in about 1 in 20 babies. Some cannot breastfeed well, but many grow up with no trouble at all.
About 5% of babies
Mouth Trick
Tongue twisting
Turning the tongue on its side so the edges face up and down, or all the way over. Between 12% and 36% of people can twist it at least halfway.
12–36%
Mouth Involuntary
Tonsil stones
Small white or yellow lumps that form in the folds of the tonsils and sometimes come out when you cough. They smell bad and feel like something is stuck in the throat. They are harmless.
About 10% of people; up to 46% on CT scans Icky
Bones Variation
Torus palatinus
A hard bony lump along the midline of the roof of the mouth that grows slowly and is completely harmless. Many people find it by chance and worry that it is a tumour.
About 20% of people
Organs Trick
Voluntary burping
Swallowing air on purpose and letting it back up as a belch. Most people can learn it. The loudest recorded burp is louder than a motorcycle.
Most people can learn it