On which specific part of the tonsils do they usually form?

Hello! You've hit the nail on the head asking where tonsil stones form—they definitely have a favorite hideout.

Simply put, their primary formation site is the Tonsillar Crypts.

Think of your tonsils like a sponge or the surface of the moon, covered in bumps and craters. Those little indentations, pits, and caves are the so-called 'crypts'.

Why specifically here?

It comes down to the structure and function of these crypts.

Natural "traps": Tonsils are part of our immune system. These crypts on their surface increase contact area with the outside world, helping to identify and fight germs entering from the mouth. But this structure also creates a natural "trap."
All the "raw materials" present: Every day, when we eat and drink, various things pass near the throat, such as:
- Tiny food particles
- Dead skin cells (epithelial cells) naturally shed from the mouth
- Various bacteria
- Mucus secreted by the throat
These easily fall into the crypts and can't easily get back out.
"Fermentation" and "formation": Once trapped deep in the warm, moist, and oxygen-poor crypts, these materials become a "buffet" for bacteria. Bacteria multiply rapidly, decomposing the organic matter. This process produces foul-smelling sulfur gases (a source of bad breath). Over time, this mixture gets slowly calcified by minerals like calcium salts in saliva, hardening into the small, yellowish-white, not-so-pleasant-smelling lumps we recognize as tonsil stones.

A more down-to-earth analogy

Think of it like cracks or small potholes in the road. Over time, dust, tiny stones, and leaves fall in. When they get compressed by tires and washed by rainwater, they become dirty, hard messes that are difficult to clean out.

The relationship between tonsil crypts and stones is quite similar.

To sum up

So, tonsil stones don't form on the smooth surface of the tonsils. Instead, they hide deep within these naturally occurring crypts, which vary in depth.

This is also why people with larger tonsils or deeper crypts are more prone to trapping debris and forming tonsil stones. When you feel something stuck in your throat, or gently press your tonsil with a cotton swab, these little stones are squished out of these tiny caves.