The Oral Stage

This stage begins when mastication ends. It is a voluntary stage thats lasts about 1 second. This is when the tongue moves the bolus from the oral cavity to the pharyngeal cavity.

Labial Seal

This is an important step for keeping the bolus in the oral cavity. Lip muscles are controlled by CN VII. 

Tongue Retraction

This allows the tongue to form a ramp like structure to allow the bolus to move posteriorly. The tongue muscle is invervated by CN V. 

Anterior-Posterior Bolus Movement

Another nerve that helps innverate tongue muscles is CN XII, which control most of the intrinsic and extrinsic tongue muscles. This nerve allows the tongue to squeeze the bolus from the anterior portion of the mouth to the posterior portion of the mouth