The lingual tonsils are a pair of oval-shaped organs located at the back of the |tongue| behind the |foramen cecum| and the |sulcus terminalis| in the |mucous membrane| covering the |tongue|. They enlarge gradually from birth to about seven years of age and then shrinks. Each oval consists of a large number of lymphoid follicles. The lingual tonsils are part of the lymphatic system and are important to the body's defense against ~infection~. They contains germ-killing cells which help protect against upper respiratory tract ~infection~.
