Bones of the Skull

Dr. Mohammed Shaalan

‫المستوى الثاني كلية طب االسنان‬

 Skull

Cranial skeleton facial skeleton

paired bones
unpaired bones paired bones unpaired bones

Frontal Lacrimal vomer

Parietal Ethmoidal Nasal
Temporal Sphenoid Zygomatic mandible
Occipital Maxillary
Palatine
Inferior concha
 The frontal bone
It forms the forehead and roof of the orbits and parts of nasal cavity

It includes the following 6 parts:

• Squamous part (vertical ) (main part)

• Nasal part
• 2 orbital plates (horizontal )
• 2 zygomatic processes
 Squamous Part of frontal bone
It forms the forehead ,the orbital plate (horizontal part) joins on every side the lower part of the squamous part
(vertical part ) ,the junction of these 2 parts is the supraorbital margin. frontal eminence

• The squamous part presents external and inner surfaces.

 The external surface : above every supraorbital margin presents a Squamous Part of frontal bone

curved elevation named superciliary arch.

 A rounded bulge between the medial ends of 2 superciliary arches is
named glabella.

 Above the superciliary arch the external surface shows an elevation Orbital Part of frontal bone supraorbital margin
referred to as frontal eminence

 The internal surface : is deeply concave and presents a median

bony ridge termed frontal crest that is continuous above with the
sagittal sulcus
Nasal Part Nasal Part
It’s the portion of bone which projects downwards between the left and
right supraorbital margins ,which articulates inferiorly with the 2 nasal
bones 1 on every side of median plane and laterally on every side with
frontal process of maxilla and the lacrimal bone
Orbital Plates
Every orbital is a triangular curved plate of bone going horizontally
Zygomatic Processes
backwards from the supraorbital margin.
It creates majority of the roof of the orbit.
Both orbital plates are divided from every other by U-shaped
ethmoidal notch for adapting cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone.

Zygomatic Processes
One on every side, it goes downwards and laterally from the lateral end
of the supraorbital margin.
The zygomatic process joins the frontal process of the zygomatic bone. Orbital Plates ethmoidal notch
 The Ethmoid bone
The ethmoid bone is situated between 2 orbital cavities and is an unpaired delicate bone.

The ethmoid bone is made from the following parts:

1- Cribriform plate
2- Crista galli
3- Perpendicular plate
4- Middle and superior nasal conchae
Cribriform Plate
It separates the nasal cavities from the anterior cranial fossa and fills the ethmoidal
notch between the 2 orbital plates of the frontal bone.

It’s a number of small pores in it which carry the filaments of olfactory nerve from
the olfactory epithelium of the nasal cavity to the olfactory bulb of the brain.

Crista Galli Cribriform Plate

It’s a triangular median crest on the upper surface of the cribriform plate
Crista Galli

Perpendicular Plate
It’s a quadrilateral plate which projects downwards from the inferior surface of
cribriform plate.

It creates the upper part of the nasal septum

Perpendicular Plate
 The sphenoid bone

• It is an unpaired bone situated at the base of the skull.

• It resemble the shape of a butterfly or bat with outstretched
wings

It is composed of the following 7 parts:

• A body.
• 2 lesser wings.
• 2 greater wings.
• 2 pterygoid processes.
Body
• It includes a pair of sphenoidal air sinuses and is cuboidal in
shape.
• The body presents 6 surfaces:
superior, inferior, anterior, posterior and left and right lateral
surfaces.
 chiasmatic sulcus
middle clinoid process
The superior surface presents the subsequent
featuresfrom before backwards:
tuberculum sellae
• A shallow transverse groove, which leads on every side into optic
canal called chiasmatic sulcus.

• A horizontal elevation creating posterior limit of sulcus chiasmaticus

called Tuberculum sellae. On every side it presents small conical
projections, the middle clinoid process.

• Hypophyseal fossa, a deep depression which lodges pituitary gland

• Dorsum sellae, a square plate of bone which projects upwards and

presents a conical projection on every side referred to as posterior dorsum
sellae
clinoid process.
Sella turcica
• Sella turcica is combined name given to tuberculum sellae, Posterior
hypophyseal fossa and dorsum sellae. It resembles a Turkish saddle clinoid
processes
Lesser Wings
 Every lesser wing appears from the anterior part of the body of sphenoid by 2 roots.
 Between these 2 roots is located the optic canal.
 The projecting medial ends of the lesser wings are termed anterior clinoid processes

optic canal

Lesser Wings anterior

clinoid
processes
Every lateral surface of the body joins with the greater wing of sphenoid (projecting laterally)
and the pterygoid process (going downwards).
The lateral surface presents a groove named carotid sulcus generated by the internal carotid artery
 Greater Wings
Every greater wing spans outside laterally from the side
of the body creating the floor of the middle cranial fossa.

The greater wing has the following 3 surfaces:

Upper surface: It is located in the Lateral (temple) surface

middle cranial fossa
Upper surface
Lateral (temple) surface:
It’s split into temporal and infratemporal
surfaces by the temple crest

Anterior (orbital) surface:

It is located at the lateral wall of the
orbit and divides the superior orbital
fissure from the inferior orbital fissure
Anterior (orbital) surface
 The posterior surface of sphenoid bone

This surface has 2 important foramniae :

 Medial
Pterygoid process pterygoid plates
Lateral
This process projects downwards from the junction between pterygoid plates
the body and greater wing of sphenoid behind last molar
tooth.

It splits into medial and lateral pterygoid plates that are

divided from every other by pterygoid fossa.

Every plate has a free posterior border.

The upper end of posterior border of medial pterygoid plate pterygoid hamulus
encloses a triangular depression referred to as scaphoid fossa
and the lower end carries a hook like process termed pterygoid fossa
pterygoid hamulus scaphoid fossa
 The occipital bone

The occipital bone: is unpaired bone located in the posterior part of the skull

It is composed of the following 4 parts:

Basilar part
2 condylar parts
• Squamous part
• 2 condylar parts
• Basilar part

Squamous part
 Squamous Part :
It’s an enlarged plate above and behind the foramen magnum . It presents 2 surfaces and 3 angles.
External surface: It’s convex and reveals these features:
• A median elevation in the point of its maximum
convexity called External occipital protuberance.
• The most notable point of the protuberance is referred to
as inion.
• A bony crest running down-wards from external occipital
protuberance to the foramen magnum called External
occipital crest.
• 2 superior nuchal lines, 1 on every side, arch laterally
from external occipital protuberance.
• 2 inferior nuchal lines, 1 on every side curve laterally
from the middle of the external occipital crest
Internal surface: It’s concave and reveals these features:
• Internal occipital protuberance, a bony elevation near the center.

• Internal occipital crest, a vertical bony crest which runs downwards from the internal occipital protuberance in the direction of the
foramen magnum.

• Sagittal sulcus/groove, runs upwards in the direction of the superior angle it’s
inhabited by superior sagittal sinus.

• Transverse sulcus/groove, 1 on every radiate in the direction of the lateral

angle; it’s inhabited by the transverse sinus.

•The small parts of grooves for sigmoid and inferior petrosal sinuses are
also viewed on the internal surface.

• Foramen magnum , the largest foramen in the skull

Condylar Parts
• It’s situated 1 on every side of the foramen magnum.
• The medial part bears occipital condyles.

• The lateral part, a quadrilateral plate projecting laterally from the posterior
half of the occipital condyle is termed jugular process.

• The outer opening of hypoglossal canal is located lateral to the anterior part
of the occipital condyle.

• The anterior margin of jugular process presents a concave jugular notch

which with quite similar notch on the petrous temporal bone creates the
jugular foramen.

• The superior surface of the condylar part presents the jugular tubercle
Basilar Part (Basiocciput)

• It’s a wide bar of bone which is located in front of the

foramen magnum and articulates in front together with the
body of sphenoid to create the basisphenoid joint

basisphenoid joint
• The upper surface of the basisphenoid slopes
downwards and backwards from dorsum sellae to the
foramen magnum. It’s referred to as clivus.

• The inferior surface of the basilar part presents a

pharyngeal tubercle in median plane, about 1 cm in
front of the foramen magnum. pharyngeal tubercle
 The parietal bone
• The parietal bone creates the major portion of the vault of the skull and is a curved plate of bone.
• It’s quadrilateral in shape

The parietal bone has:

•2 surfaces: external and internal.
•4 borders: superior (sagittal), inferior, anterior and posterior.
•4 angles: frontal, sphenoidal, occipital and mastoid.
The 2 surfaces of the parietal bone are as
follows:

External surface:
it is smooth and convex and is located
near its center an elevation named
parietal bone
parietal eminence.
There are just two curved lines referred
to as superior and inferior temporal
lines, below the parietal eminence. parietal eminence
The parietal foramen is situated near
the posterior part of the superior border.
Internal surface: It’s concave

It presents these features:

• Sagittal sulcus (only half) along the superior border, which
lodges superior sagittal sinus.

• Granular stone by the side of sagittal sulcus, which lodge the

arachnoid granulations.

• Deep groove instantly behind the anterior border, which

lodges the anterior branch of the middle meningeal artery.

Deep groove for the middle meningeal artery

 The temporal bone
It is situated on every side in the base and side of the skull

It consists of the 5 subsequent morphological

parts:

• Squamous part
• Petromastoid part (Petrous part + mastoid part)
• Tympanic part
• Styloid process

Tympanic part
Squamous Part :
• It projects upwards to create the side of the skull. It’s thin, translucent, shell-like plate of bone.
• It presents external and internal surfaces; and superior and anteroinferior border and zygomatic process.
External surface creates the floor of temporal fossa

• The zygomatic process projects laterally from the lower and anterior parts of the
temporal surface. To create the zygomatic arch it joins the temporal process of
the zygomatic bone

• A deep cavity behind the articular tubercle is known as mandibular fossa

or articular fossa
articular tubercle
• The mandibular fossa and articular tubercle are essential portions of the
squamous part of the temporal bone. mandibular fossa

Internal surface is located in contact together with the temporal lobe of the brain.
It’s grooved by the anterior and posterior branches of the middle meningeal artery
Petrous part:
• It’s the most challenging (rock like) part of the temporal bone
• Includes inside it:
 internal ear, middle ear and mastoid antrum, which it safely shields.
 It also includes carotid canal for internal carotid artery.

• It separates the middle cranial fossa from the posterior cranial fossa

• The petrous part has a shape of a 3 dimensional pyramid, it’s a base, an apex, 3 surfaces and 3 edges.

1. The base is fused with the squamous part.

2. The apex creates the posterolateral wall of the foramen lacerum.
3. Anterior surface creates the posterior part of the middle cranial fossa.
Mastoid part:
• It is located below and behind the squamous part and includes mastoid antrum, which
interacts with the middle ear cavity in the petrous part of the temporal bone.
• It finishes below as mastoid process.
• It encloses the mastoid air cells.

• On the medial side of the mastoid process there’s a

notch referred to as digastric notch for connection to
the posterior belly of digastric muscle

• Mastoid air cells: The mastoid process is made up of

cortex of compact bone using a honeycomb of air cells
underneath it. The air cells are small
intercommunicating spaces that are constant with the
mastoid antrum and middle ear
Tympanic Part :
• It’s a thin, triangular curved plate of
bone which creates the floor and
anterior wall of the external auditory
meatus.
• The anterior surface of the tympanic
part creates the non-articular part of
the mandibular fossa and is linked to
the part of the parotid gland
Styloid Process :
• It’s a thin bony projection of about 1 inch (2,54 cm) length.
• It goes downward and forward from the under surface of the tympanic plate.
• It’s crossed externally by the facial nerve after it leaves the stylomatoid foramen
 Skull

Cranial skeleton facial skeleton

paired bones
unpaired bones paired bones unpaired bones

Frontal Lacrimal vomer

Parietal Ethmoidal Nasal
Temporal Sphenoid Zygomatic mandible
Occipital Maxillary
Palatine
Inferior concha
 Vomer
• It is a thin quadrilateral plate of bone in the median palne of the face
• which creates the posteroinferior part of the nasal septum.
• It articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones,
and the left and right maxillary bones.

 The nasal septum consist of :

1- perpendicular plate of ethmoid bone , superior part
2- vomer , posteroinferior part
3- septal cartilage , anterior part

 The vomer presents these features:

• 4 borders
• 2 lateral surfaces
• The superior border, the thickest, presents a deep furrow, bounded on either side by a horizontal projecting
expansion of bone – called the wing (ala) of vomer
• The inferior border articulates with the nasal crest formed by the maxillæ and palatine bones.
• The anterior border is the longest and slopes downward and forward.
Its upper half is fused with the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid; its lower half is grooved for the inferior margin
of the septal cartilage of the nose
superior border
• The posterior border is free of bony articulation, having no
muscle attachments and separates the 2 posterior nasal apertures anterior border
Posterior
border

Lateral Surfaces :
• The lateral surface on every side is covered by a mucous membrane
• Is marked by an anteroinferior groove for nasopalatine nerve and vessels inferior border
groove for nasopalatine nerve
 The mandible
• It is the lower jaw bone , it has lower teeth
• Is the biggest, strongest and lowermost bone of the face

 It is composed of 3 parts:
• A horizontally-oriented body , it is horseshoe shaped bone
• 2 vertically oriented rami (ramus)

horseshoe shaped

angle
The body of the mandible

• It is U-shaped and it presents:

• Two surfaces:
1. External surface Internal surface External surface
2. Internal surface

• Two borders : Superior border

1. Superior border
2. Inferior border or base of the mandible

Inferior border
Superior border of the body is referred to as alveolar process.
It bears sockets of lower 16 teeth.

Inferior border or base of the mandible presents a small

depression (digastric fossa) on either side near the median plane
, it supplies attachment site to the anterior belly of the digastric
muscle
Features on the External and Internal Surfaces of the Body

The external surface of the body of the mandible presents these features:
• Symphysis menti (mentum = chin):
It’s a median ridge on the external outermost layer of the
body. It indicates the line of fusion of the 2 halves of the
mandible in the age of 2 years

• The mental protuberance :

a triangular elevation below the symphysis menti Incisive fossa

Symphysis menti
• Mental tubercle : at each side of the mental protuberance

•Incisive fossa: It’s a shallow depression just below the incisor teeth.
• Mental foramen:

It is located below and between the 2 premolar teeth and gives passage
to mental nerve and vessels.

• Oblique line (external oblique line ):

It’s the continuance of the anterior border of the ramus

It runs downwards and forwards in the direction of the mental tubercle.
The internal surface of the body of the mandible presents these features:
• Mylohyoid line: is a notable oblique ridge that runs obliquely downwards
and forwards from behind the third molar tooth
(about 1 cm below the alveolar border) to the symphysis menti below the genial
tubercles
• Mylohyoid groove: is located below the posterior end of the mylohyoid line
• Sublingual fossa: is a shallow area above the anterior part of the mylohyoid
line and lodges sublingual gland
• Submandibular fossa :
is a somewhat hollowed out area below the posterior part of the mylohyoid line
and lodges submandibular gland
• Genial tubercles (mental spines) :
The inner aspect of symphysis menti has 4 tubercles referred to as
genial tubercles (mental spines) ordered into 2 pairs:
2 Superior and 2 inferior genial tubercles
Superior and inferior genial tubercles
 The ramus of the mandible
• It’s more or less a quadrilateral vertical plate of bone that projects upwards from the posterior
part of the body.
Features
The ramus presents the following features:
Two surfaces:
[Link] surface
[Link] surface
Four borders :
[Link]
[Link] (it’s notched to create mandibular notch).
[Link]
[Link]
Two processes:
1- Condylar process:
• a powerful upward projection from posterosuperior part. Its
upper end is enlarged to create head.
• Neck is the constricted part below head and presents a
depression on its anterior surface referred to as pterygoid
fovea.
2-Coronoid process: a flattened (side to side) triangular projection
from anterosuperior part.
The angle of the mandible
The meeting point between posterior and inferior borders of the ramus of mandible is named the angle of the
mandible.
The lateral surface of ramus is flat and bears a number of oblique ridges generated by masseter muscle
The features on the medial surfaces of the ramus of the mandible are :

• Mandibular foramen:
It’s found a little above the middle of ramus and leads into
mandibular canal which runs downwards and forwards in the body to
open on its external surface as mental foramen.

• Lingula is a small tongue shaped projection on the anterior

margin of the mandibular foramen.

• Mylohyoid groove starts just below the mandibular foramen and

runs downwards and forwards to get to the body of mandible
below the posterior part of mylohyoid line.
Differences between male and female mandibles
Changes in the Position of Mental Foramen with Age

At birth, it’s present below the sockets for deciduous molar teeth near the lower border

In an adult, it slowly moves upwards and opens midway between the upper and lower edges

In old age, it is located close to alveolar border because of resorption of alveolar process of the mandible because of
loss of teeth
Features In children In adult In old age

Present midway between

Present close to the inferior Present close to the upper
Mental foramen the upper and lower
border of the body border
borders of the body

Angle of mandible 140° 110° 140°

Relationship between Condylar process projects Coronoid process projects

Coronoid process above the
condylar and coronoid above the level of coronoid above the level of condylar
level of condylar process
processes process process

Runs parallel with the Runs close to the

Mandibular canal Runs near the lower border
mylohyoid line upper border
Key Points
•The 2 halves of mandible fuse during the first year of life.
•In babies and youngsters, the body of mandible is primarily composed of alveolar part
consisting of sockets for both deciduous and permanent teeth.
•In adults, alveolar and subalveolar parts of the body of the mandible are equally developed.
•In old age, teeth normally fall out and alveolar border is absorbed so the height of the body is
noticeably reduced.
Fractures of the Mandible
• The mandible takes up a notable and exposed position of the facial skeleton; therefore it’s generally fractured
following violent injuries.
• Sites of the fracture: The mandible tends to fracture at 1 of the 3 sites:

• At the neck of the mandible, as this is actually the weakest part of the bone

• At the angle of the mandible because here unexpected curvature focuses the
power of the strike.

• In the canine region of the body because elongated root of canine tooth
reduces the bony substance and makes the mandible poorer at this site.

A fracture of the mandible normally includes two fractures one in every half
of the mandible, fracture neck of mandible on one side and fracture of body
in canine region on the other side.
 The Maxilla
• There are 2 maxillae, 1 on every side of midline.
• The 2 together create the upper jaw.
• They have uneven pneumatic bone structure

Maxilla is pyramidal in shape and has a large cavity inside called maxillary air sinus

The body presents the subsequent 4 surfaces:

• Nasal (medial) surface
• Orbital (superior) surface
• Temporal (posterior) surface
• Anterior (facial) surface
Nasal surface (base)

• It makes the lateral wall of the nasal cavity and represents the base of the body
of maxilla.
• It presents a large opening, the maxillary hiatus, which leads into maxillary
sinus, a large air space inside the body of the maxilla.
• The maxillary hiatus is the most notable characteristic of the nasal surface.

• In front of the hiatus is the nasolacrimal groove. It’s converted into

nasolacrimal canal by lacrimal bone and inferior nasal concha.
• An oblique ridge present in front of the nasolacrimal groove is termed conchal
crest.
• It articulates with the inferior nasal concha. Incisive canal
• A vertical groove, running obliquely in the posterior part of nasal surface is
converted into greater palatine canal by a perpendicular plate of the palatine
bone , in the anterior part there is a Incisive canal
 Orbital surface

Orbital surface infraorbital canal

• It creates the major part of the floor of the orbital cavity
• It presents infraorbital groove and canal for infraorbital
nerve and vessels.

Frontal process

Temporal surface
• It creates the anterior boundary of infratemporal fossa. maxillary sinus
• It presents few tiny foramina for posterior superior
alveolar nerve and vessels.

alveolar foramina

Alveolar process incisive canal

Anterior surface Frontal process Infraorbital
• It creates the part of norma frontalis. sulcus
• About 1 cm below the infraorbital margin, the zygomatic process

anterior surface presents the infraorbital foramen

which carries infraorbital nerve and vessels.
• Just above the alveolar process the anterior surface
gives from medial to lateral:
 incisive fossa, canine eminence and canine fossa.
infraorbital
The canine eminence is caused by the root of canine foramen
Anterior nasal spine
tooth.
• Anterior nasal spine Alveolar process
• Intermaxillary suture canine fossa
Intermaxillary suture incisive fossa canine eminence
 Frontal process

Maxilla has the following 4 processes:

Zygomatic process
• Frontal process
• Zygomatic process
• Palatine process
• Alveolar process

Alveolar process

Palatine process
Palatine process
• It goes horizontally in the direction of the medial side and creates the greater part of the hard palate

• The 2 maxillae are combined at the intermaxillary suture premaxilla

• Combine with the palatine bone at palatomaxillary suture
• The portion of the maxillae that carry the incisor teeth
is occasionally called premaxilla

palatomaxillary suture
Alveolar process
• It goes downwards and bears the
upper teeth.
• It’s arched, being wider behind, to
create the alveolar arch.

Incisive canal
Clinical significance
Fractures of Maxilla
Unilateral fracture includes the alveolar process of the
maxilla. Bilateral fractures are classified into following 3
types:
Le Fort I: In this a horizontal fracture runs along the floor of the nose above and parallel to
the palates and below the zygomatic bone.
Le Fort II: In this, a pyramidal-shaped fracture line goes through the root of the nose, floor
of orbits and after that runs medial to and below the zygomatic bones in the direction of the
alveolar margin.
Le Fort III (craniofacial dysfunction): In this, the fracture line runs via the root of the
nose, superior orbital fissures and lateral walls of the orbits above the zygomatic bones.
There’s complete separation of cranial skeleton from facial skeleton.
A) Le Fort I
B) B) Le Fort II
C) C) Le Fort III
The maxillary sinuses
• The maxillary sinuses are the largest of the 4 paranasal sinuses,
located one on each side as well as totally fill the bodies of the
maxillae.
• It is pyramid shaped with the base pointed medially towards
the lateral wall of the nose as well as its apex towards the
zygomatic bone laterally.
• Vertical – 3.3 cm.
• Transverse – 2.6 cm.
• Anteroposterior – 3.4 cm
• The maxillary sinus develops first. It rises around the 4th month of fetal life.
It is undeveloped at birth, expands in the course of 6-7 years and gets fully
developed after the eruption of permanent teeth at puberty.
• The maxilla along with the portions of the inferior concha as
well as palatine bone that is located on the top of the maxillary
hiatus creates the medial wall or base of the maxillary sinus.

• The opening of the maxillary sinus (ostium) is located in the

center of the semilunar hiatus which grooves the lateral wall of
the middle nasal meatus, near the top part of the base.

• Arterial supply
It is from maxillary and infraorbital arteries by the anterior,
middle, and posterior superior alveolar arteries

• Lymphatic drainage
Submandibular lymph nodes drain the sinus

• Nerve supply
The anterior, middle, and posterior superior alveolar nerves from
the maxillary and infraorbital nerves supply the maxillary sinuses
1. Roof is formed by the floor of the orbit
The infraorbital nerve as well as artery traverses the roof in a
bony canal
2. Floor is formed by the alveolar process of maxilla and is
located nearly 1.25 cm below the floor of the nasal cavity.
The level of the floor and the level of the ala of nose are
equivalent.
Normally the roots of the first and second molar teeth
protrude into the floor creating altitudes; however sometimes
roots of the first and second premolars, third molar, and
canine may hardly ever protrude into the floor
3. Base is created by the lateral wall of the nose.
It possesses the opening or ostium of the sinus in its upper
portion.
Clinical significant :
Maxillary Sinusitis
Maxillary sinus is most commonly infected of all the sinuses because:

• This sinus can acquire infection from infected nose (viral rhinitis),
• carious upper premolar as well as molar teeth, especially molars, along with infected frontal and anterior
ethmoidal sinuses.

•Due to common innervation by the maxillary nerve, pain of maxillary sinusitis is transmitted towards the upper
teeth and infraorbital skin.

Oro antal communication

• Communication between the sinus and oral cavity
• occur after careless extraction of maxillary molars, in which the floor of the sinus is perforated or fractured
 palatine bone
• There are two palatine bones. Every palatine bone is lodged between the pterygoid process of sphenoid bone
behind and the maxilla in front.
• 2 palatine bones create the posterior one-third of the hard palate Anterior two thirds of the hard palate
that is why it is called palatine bone (anterior 2/3 formed by
maxilla)

posterior one-third of the hard palate

The palatine bone is L shaped and is composed of the subsequent 2 plates:
• Horizontal plate.
• Perpendicular plate.

It also possesses the following 3 processes:

• Orbital process.
• Sphenoidal process.
• Pyramidal process.

Pyramidal process
Horizontal Plate
• It projects medially and unifies with its counterpart of opposite side to
create the posterior 1/3 of the hard palate
• On its medial end forms the nasal crest and posterior nasal spine

Perpendicular Plate
• It’s a vertical plate that is fixed with the posterior part of the medial
outermost layer of the maxilla.
• At its upper border the perpendicular plate presents
• 2 processes: (a) sphenoidal process and (b) orbital process. Between
both processes it encloses the sphenopalatine notch that is converted
into sphenopalatine foramen by inferior outermost layer of the body of
sphenoid.
• The lateral surface of the perpendicular plate presents a vertical groove,
the greater palatine groove
Orbital Process
• It projects upwards and laterally from the anterior part of the upper
border of the perpendicular plate, in front of sphenopalatine notch
• It forms part of the orbital floor
Sphenoid Process
It projects upwards and medially from the posterior part of the upper
border of the perpendicular plate
Pyramidal Process Greater Pyramidal
palatine process
• It projects posterolaterally from the junction between the foramen
perpendicular and horizontal plates.
• The pyramidal process is pierced by the lesser palatine canals
• The greater palatine canals run between the maxilla and the
perpendicular plate of the palatine which ends as greater palatine
foramin , opens palatally between the 6 and 7 molars ,sometimes
between the 7 and 8 molars lesser palatine foramen
 lacrimal bone
• The lacrimal bone is quadrangular and it is the smallest of all bones of the skull
• The lacrimal bones has 2 surfaces as well as 4 borders :
Surfaces Lateral surface - houses lacrimal sac and nasolacrimal duct;
participates in forming the medial orbital wall
Medial surface - participates in forming the middle nasal
meatus and encloses some ethmoidal air cells
Borders Anterior - articulation with the frontal process of maxilla
Posterior - articulation with the ethmoid orbital plate
Superior - articulation with the frontal bone
Inferior - articulates with the orbital plate of the maxilla and
the inferior nasal concha
 Lateral or Orbital Surface
posterior lacrimal crest
anterior
• The lateral surface faces towards the contents of the orbit, thus is often referred to as
posterior
the orbital surface. Lacrimal
• The first notable feature of this surface is a vertical ridge called the posterior lacrimal crest. lacrimal fossa
• The crest divides the lateral surface of the bone into two portions: the anterior, which is related sulcus
to the lacrimal sac and lacrimal canaliculi; and posterior, which is part of the medial wall of
the orbit.
lacrimal hamulus
• Anterior to the posterior lacrimal crest is a longitudinally positioned groove called the lacrimal
groove (or lacrimal sulcus).
• The inner margin of this sulcus unites with the frontal process of the maxilla and in this way nasolacrimal duct
forms the lacrimal fossa.
• The upper part of the lacrimal fossa houses the lacrimal sac, whereas the lower part contains
the nasolacrimal duct.
• Posterior to the posterior lacrimal crest is a smooth surface that participates in forming the medial
wall of the orbit.
• This portion of the lateral surface also extends in the shape of a hook called the lacrimal
hamulus
Medial surface or nasal surface

• The medial surface of the lacrimal bone faces the nasal cavity, which is why it is also called the nasal
surface.

• There is notable longitudinal furrow on this surface, which

corresponds to the posterior lacrimal crest of the orbital surface
• Anterior to the furrow is a portion of the bone that forms part of
the middle nasal meatus, whereas the part located posteriorly to lacrimal hamulus
furrow
the furrow articulates with the ethmoid bone, and in this way
encloses some ethmoidal air cells.
 Inferior nasal conchae

• There are 2 inferior nasal conchae

• Every inferior nasal concha projects downwards from the lateral wall of the nasal cavity

• It’s a curved bony plate and presents these features:

 Medial and lateral surfaces
 Superior and inferior border
 Anterior and posterior ends
• The medial surface is convex.
• The lateral surface is deeply concave and creates the medial
wall of the inferior meatus of the nose
• The superior border is thin and uneven
• The inferior border is thick and gradually arch.
• Both anterior and posterior ends are pointed; the latter is
more marrow

• The lacrimal process of inferior nasal concha articulates with the

margins of nasolacrimal groove of maxilla to create nasolacrimal canal.

Inferior nasal concha

nasolacrimal duct
and canal
 The nasal bone

• The nasal bones are two small oblong bones, varying in size and form in different individuals

• The two nasal bones are joined at the midline internasal suture and make up the bridge of the nose

• Each nasal bone has four borders: the superior, inferior, lateral, and medial.

• Each nasal bone has two surfaces: the outer and the inner
Surfaces :
The outer surface is concavo-convex from above downward,
convex from side to side; perforated about its center by a
foramen, for the transmission of a small vein

The inner surface is concave from side to side, and is traversed

from above downward, by a groove for the passage of a branch
outer surface
of the nasociliary nerve

Articulations
The nasal articulates with four bones:
two of the cranium, the frontal and ethmoid, and two of the face,
the opposite nasal and the maxilla
inner surface
 The zygomatic bone

• The zygomatic bone (zygoma) is also referred to as malar bone

because it forms the visibility of the cheek that is termed mala in Latin

• The zygomatic bone is composed of the following 3 parts:

A body
2 processes: frontal and temporal.
Body :
It presents 3 surfaces, orbital surface, lateral surface and temporal surface

 orbital surface:
• A part of the lateral wall and floor of the Orbital surface.
• Has a foramen, the zygomatico-orbital foramen, which carries
a zygomatic nerve.
 Lateral surface:
• is subcutaneous and has a zygomaticofacial foramen from which
zygomatico-facial nerve comes out
 Temporal surface :
• creates the part of anterior wall of the temporal fossa and presents a
zygomaticotemporal foramen,which carries the zygomaticotemporal nerve.
Processes
[Link] process:
It’s a thick upward projection. It articulates with the
zygomatic process of the frontal bone.
Its orbital surface presents a small tubercle near the orbital
margin and 1 cm below the frontozygomatic suture named
Whitnall’s tubercle

[Link] process:
It goes backwards and joins the zygomatic process of the
temporal bone to create the zygomatic arch.