How to examine the mouth and throat
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.
Good light and a tongue depressor in the right place make the mouth exam quick and comfortable.
What you need
- Penlight
- Tongue depressor
- Gloves
Step by step
Prepare
Clean your hands, gloves on, introduce yourself, get consent and ask the patient to remove dentures. [1]
Lips and gums
Color, moisture, cracks and sores; gums for swelling and bleeding; teeth and their condition. [1]
Inside the cheeks
Use the depressor to look at the inner cheeks. [1]
Tongue and floor of the mouth
Top, sides and underside, and the floor of the mouth. Sores on the sides and underneath need follow-up. [1]
Palate and throat
Depressor on the middle third of the tongue (not the back, to avoid gagging), patient says "ah". The uvula rises in the middle. [1]
Tonsils
Size, redness, white patches or pus. [1]
Neck nodes and record
Feel the lymph nodes under the jaw and in the neck. Record the findings. [1]
Common errors
- Depressor too far back.
- Not removing dentures.
- Missing drooling, muffled voice or trouble opening the mouth (deep neck infection, urgent).
Practice it in VMS
In VMS you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
VMS cases that train this skill
Sources
Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.