What are tonsil stones?

They are special stones used to make bowling balls.

No.

When we open our mouth wide enough and look at ourselves in a mirror.

We can see a pair of palatine tonsils in our throat.

These tonsils have crevices and holes called tonsillar crypts.

Now, sometimes food particles, mucus, dead cells and bacteria get collected in the crypts and over time,

The collected lumps begin to calcify.

What does calcify mean?

Wait.

I'll explain.

Calcification is the accumulation of calcium in a particular part of the body.

Usually, this happens for the formation of bones and teeth.

However, sometimes, the collected lumps in the crypts also start calcifying.

They turn into hard structures of calcium and other compounds, thus forming tonsil stones or tonsilloliths.