Why is sometimes food too hot for fingers but not too hot for mouth?

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Why is sometimes food too hot for fingers but not too hot for mouth?

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9 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I think has to deal with heat differentials and the presence of saliva that absorbs heat. But honestly it has been a while

Anonymous 0 Comments

There are more nerves in fingers than in tongues. Though there are more in lips than in fingers.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Your mouth is desensitized to heat while your fingers are not.
I’m the opposite, I can easily touch hot stuff without too much worry, but I can’t eat or drink anything hot without losing taste in my tongue for a few hours.
My wife tho is able to both touch and eat stuff that’s glowing hot with no worries

Anonymous 0 Comments

I assumed that it’s because our mouths have a warmer temp than fingers?

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The presence, or rather the number, of vanilloid receptors. That’s why chilli in a cut on your finger hurts so much more than eating that same chilli

That said, if it’s too hot for your hands, it’s too hot for your mouth. You will cause damage even if it doesn’t quite feel like it. Burns are associated with increased risk of oral cancer (as with most cellular damage).

Just wait a few second before shoving the hot pocket in.

Anonymous 0 Comments

For whatever reason my natural instinct when food is burning my fingers is to shove it in my mouth instead of dropping it. Absolutely no idea what triggers that reaction.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I always feel like it’s the other way around. Too hot for mouth okay temp for hands. Then look like an idiot covering your mouth while blowing on something hot because that makes tons of sense when you have something hot in your mouth

Anonymous 0 Comments

Anything over 110 degrees Fahrenheit can cause superficial burns to your skin.

160 degrees or more burns instantly.

Mixing two substances of different temperatures will result in a mixture with a temperature somewhere between the initial two, a phenomenon known as thermodynamic equilibrium. Like when putting milk in your coffee.

Saliva in your mouth is at body temperature, typically 98.6 degrees.

When you put something too hot into your mouth, the saliva can cool the food to a tolerable temperature.