<P> The vestibular folds of the larynx play a significant role in the maintenance of the laryngeal functions of breathing and preventing food and drink from entering the airway during swallowing . They aid phonation (speech) by suppressing dysphonia . In some ethnic singing and chanting styles, such as in Tibet and Mongolia, the vestibular folds may be used in co-oscillation with the vocal folds, producing very low pitched sounds . Conversely, people who have had their epiglottis removed because of cancer do not choke any more than when it was present . </P> <P> They have a minimal role in normal phonation, but are often used to produce deep sonorous tones in Tibetan chant and Tuvan throat singing, as well as in musical screaming and the death growl singing style used in various forms of metal . Simultaneous voicing with the vocal and vestibular folds is diplophonia . Some voice actors occasionally employ small amounts of this phonation for its dark, growling quality while portraying a "villainous" or antagonistic voice . </P> <P> They are lined with respiratory epithelium, while true vocal cords have stratified squamous epithelium . </P>

The difference between the vestibular folds and the vocal folds is that the vestibular folds