SKULL - 2

(CRANIUM)
 Maxilla (upper jaw)
Processes: the frontal;
zygomatic;
alveolar;
palatine.
Surfaces: medial or nasal;
anterior or fascial;
posterior or infratemporal;
superior or orbital.
Encloses a large cavity, the maxillary
sinus.
 Frontal process

Infraorbital Lacrimal margin

margin infraorbital margin Lacrimal notch

Orbital surface

Infraorbital
Infraorbital sulcus
foramen

Infraorbital duct

Zygomatico-
alveolar crest Zygomatic process

tuberosity
Maxillary
Canine fossa Alveolar foramina

Nasal notch
Alveolar duct

Anterior Infratemporal surface

nasal
spine

Alveolar process

Alveolar yokes Body of maxilla

Anterior surface
 AGE CHANGES
1. At birth:
a. The transverse and anteroposterior diameters are each
more than the vertical diameter.
b. Frontal process is well marked.
c. Body consists of a little more than the alveolar process,
the tooth sockets reaching to the floor of orbit.
d. Maxillary sinus is a mere furrow on the lateral wall of the
nose.
2. In the adult: Vertical diameter is greatest due to
development of the alveolar process and increase in the
size of the sinus.
3. In the old: The bone reverts to infantile condition. Its height
is reduced as a result of absorption of the alveolar process.
 Palatine bones
Has 2 plates:
horizontal;
perpendicular.
3 processes:
pyramidal;
orbital;
sphenoidal.
 Inferior nasal conchae
It comprises 2 surfaces, 2 borders
and 2 ends.
• Medial surface is marked by
vascular grooves
• Lateral surface forms the
medial wall of inferior meatus
of the nerve.
• Superior border articulates
with maxilla, lacrimal, ethmoid
and palatine bones.
• Inferior border is free.
• Posterior end is more pointed
than the anterior end.
 Vomer
Surfaces: Ala

right;
left. Vertical
plate

Borders:
superior or sphenoid;
inferior or palatine;
anterior or ethmoid;
posterior.
 Nasal bones
Surfaces:
1. The outer;
2. the inner.
Borders:
1. Superior border articulates
with nasal part of frontal
bone.
2. Inferior border articulates
with lateral nasal cartilage.
3. Medial border articulates
with opposite nasal bone.
4. Lateral border articulates
with frontal process of
maxilla.
 Lacrimal bones
Surfaces:
1. Lateral or orbital surface is divided
by posterior lacrimal crest into
anterior and posterior parts. The
anterior part forms posterior half of
lacrimal groove for lacrimal sac. The
posterior part forms part of medial
wall of orbit.
2. Medial or nasal surface forms a
part of middle meatus of the nose.

Borders:
1. Anterior border articulates with
frontal process of maxilla.
2. Posterior border with orbital plate
of ethmoid.
3. Superior border with frontal bone.
4. Inferior border with orbital surface
of maxilla.
 Zygomatic bones
Surfaces:
1. Lateral surface presenting zygomaticofacial foramen.
2. Temporal surface presents zygomaticotemporal foramen.
3. Orbital surface present two zygomaticoorbital foramen.

Processes:
1. frontal;
2. temporal;
3. maxillar.
 Mandible (lower jaw)
Body has:
Surfaces: Borders:
1. outer; 1. upper;
2. Inner. 2. lower.

Ramus has:
Surfaces: Borders:
1. lateral; 1. upper;
2. medial. 2. lower;
3. anterior;
4. posterior.

Processes:
1. coronoid;
2. condyloid.
 AGE CHANGES
ln infants and Children
1. The two halves of the mandible fuse during the first year
of life.
2. The mental foramen, opens below the sockets for the
two deciduous molar teeth near the lower border. The
mandibular canal runs near the lower border.
3. The angle is obtuse. The coronoid process is large and
projects upwards above the level of the condyle.
In adults
1. The mental foramen
opens midway
between the upper
and lower borders.
The mandibular canal
runs parallel with the
mylohyoid line.
2. The angle reduces to
about 110 or L20
degrees because the
ramus becomes almost
vertical.
In old age
1. Teeth fall out and the
alveolar border is
absorbed, so that the
height of body is
markedly reduced.
2. The mental foramen and
the mandibular canal
are close to the alveolar
border.
3. The angle again
becomes obtuse about
140 degrees because the
ramus is oblique.
 Hyoid bone
It develops from second
(upper part of body,
lesser cornua) and third
(lower part of body,
greater cornua)
branchial arches.
It is situated in the
anterior midline of the
neck between the chin
and the thyroid
cartilage.
It is kept suspended in
position by muscles and
ligaments.
Skull Joints
 Temporomandibular joint
This is modified hinge type
of synovial joint.
Formed by mandibular
fossa and articular tubercle
of the temporal bone
superiorly, and the head of
the mandible inferiorly
(compound).
The joint cavity is divided
into upper and lower parts
by an intra-articular disc
(complex).
Ligaments:
1. lateral ligament;
2. sphenomandibular
ligament;
3. stylomandibular
ligament.
MOVEMENTS
1. Depression (open mouth).
2. Elevation (closed mouth).
3. Protrusion (protraction of chin).
4. Retrusion (retraction of chin).
5. Lateral or side to side movements during chewing or grinding.
Norma verticalis
Norma occipitalis
NORMA FRONTATIS
 Temporal fossa
Superior - superior temporal
line.
Inferior – zygomatic arch.
Anterior wall - frontal
process of zygomatic bone
and zygomatic process of
frontal bone.
Posterior - Inferior temporal
line and supramastoid crest.
Floor - frontal, parietal,
greater wing of sphenoid and
temporal bones.
Pterion is the thin part of
skull.
Through the gap deep to the
zygomatic arch, temporal
fossa communicates with the
infratemporal fossa.
 Infratemporal fossa
Anteriorly - posterior surface of maxilla;
Posteriorly - mastoid and styloid processes
of the temporal bone;
Superiorly - Infratemporal surface of greater
wing of sphenoid;
Medially - lateral pterygoid plate of the
sphenoid bone.
Laterally - ramus of mandible.

The infratemporal fossa contains the:

• Inferior part of the temporalis muscle.
• Lateral and medial pterygoid muscles.
• Maxillary artery.
• Pterygoid venous plexus.
• Mandibular, inferior alveolar, lingual,
buccal, and chorda tympani nerves
• Otic ganglion.
 Pterygopalatine fossa
Anteriorly - posterior surface of the maxilla.
Posteriorly - pterygoid process.
Medially - perpendicular plate of the palatine
bone.
Superiorly - infratemporal surface of the
greater wing of the sphenoid.
Inferiorly - pyramidal process of the palatine
bone.
Communications
With the orbit through the inferior orbital
fissure.
Middle cranial fossa through the foramen
rotundum.
Foramen lacerum through the pterygoid
canal.
With the nose through sphenopalatine
foramen.
With the infratemporal fossa through the
pterygomaxillary fissure.
With the oral cavity through the greater and
lesser palatine canals.
NORMA BASALIS
 Hard palate
Formed by palatine processes of the maxilla and
horizontal plates of the palatine bones.
Development of the palate
Congenital disorder
INTERNAL SURFACE OF THE BASE OF SKULL
 The orbit
Superior wall: formed by orbital
plate of the frontal bone and lesser
wing of the sphenoid.
(lacrimal fossa, optic canal, trochlear
fossa).
Lateral wall: formed by orbital
surface of the greater wing of the
sphenoid bone and orbital surface
of the frontal process of the
zygomatic bone.
(superior orbital fissure,
zygomaticoorbital foramen).
Inferior wall: formed by orbital
surface of the maxilla, orbital
surface of the zygomatic bone,
orbital process of the palatine bone.
(inferior orbital fissure, infraorbital
groove).
Medial wall: formed by frontal
process of the maxilla, lacrimal
bone, orbital plate of the ethmoid,
body of the sphenoid bone.
(lacrimal groove, anterior and
posterior ethmoidal foramina).
 Nasal cavity
Lateral wall: formed by superior and
middle conchae of the ethmoid bone
and inferior concha, nasal bone,
frontal process and nasal surface of
the maxilla, lacrimal bone,
perpendicular plate of the palatine
bone, and medial pterygoid plate of
the sphenoid bone.

Medial wall: formed by

perpendicular plate of the ethmoid
bone, vomer.

Superior wall: formed by nasal, nasal

part of the frontal bone, cribriform
plate of the ethmoid, and body of
the sphenoid.

Inferior wall: formed by palatine

process of the maxilla and the
horizontal plate of the palatine bone.
 Paranasal sinuses
• FRONTAL SINUSES
The right and left frontal sinuses are between the outer and the inner tables of the
frontal bone, posterior to the superciliary arches and the root of the nose. Frontal
sinuses are usually detectable in children by 7 years of age. The right and left sinuses
each drain through a frontonasal duct into the ethmoidal infundibulum, which opens
into the semilunar hiatus of the middle nasal meatus.
 • ETHMOIDAL CELLS
The ethmoidal cells usually are not visible in plain radiographs
before 2 years of age.
The anterior ethmoidal cells drain into the middle nasal
meatus through the ethmoidal infundibulum.
The middle ethmoidal cells open into the middle meatus.
The posterior ethmoidal cells open into the superior meatus.
 • SPHENOIDAL SINUSES
are located in the body of the sphenoid and may extend
into the wings of this bone. They are unevenly divided
and separated by a bony septum. The sinus open into
superior nasal meatus (sphenoethmoidal recess).
 • MAXILLARY SINUSES
They occupy the bodies of the maxillae and
communicate with the middle nasal meatus by
way of the semilunar hiatus .
 Newborn Cranium
The halves of the frontal bone in the newborn are
separated by the frontal suture, the frontal and parietal
bones are separated by the coronal suture, and the
maxillae and mandibles are separated by the
intermaxillary suture and mandibular symphysis
(secondary cartilaginous joint), respectively. There are no
mastoid and styloid processes.
The bones of the calvaria of a newborn infant are
separated
by membranous intervals; the largest occur between the
angles of the flat bones. They include the anterior and
posterior fontanelles and the paired sphenoidal and
mastoid fontanelles.
 Postnatal Growth of the Cranium
The fibrous sutures of the newborn's calvaria permit the brain to
enlarge during infancy and childhood. The increase in the size of
the calvaria is greatest during the first 2 years, the period of
most rapid postnatal growth of the brain. The calvaria normally
increases in capacity until approximately 16 years of age. After
this, it usually increases slightly in size for 3 to 4 years because of
thickening of its bones. There is also rapid growth of the face and
jaws, coinciding with eruption of the primary teeth. These facial
changes are more marked after the secondary teeth erupt.
There is concurrent enlargement of the frontal and facial
regions, associated with the increase in the size of the paranasal
sinuses. Most paranasal sinuses are rudimentary or absent at
birth. Growth of these sinuses is important in altering the shape
of the face and in adding resonance to the voice.
 Craniometry
1. Cephalic lndex
𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑡ℎ
Cephalic index = X 100
𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ
Human races may be:
1. Dolichocephalic or
long-headed when the
index is 75 or less.
2. Mesaticephnlic when
the index is between
75 and 80.
3. Brachycephalic or
short-headed or
round-headed when
the index is above 80.
2. Facial angle
is a rough index of the
degree of development of
the brain because it is the
angle between
facial skeleton and the
calvaria, which are
inversely proportional to
each other. The angle is
smallest in the most
evolved races of man, it is
larger in lower races and
still larger in anthropoids.
 Congenital disorder
Acrania - associated with
meroencephaly or
anencephaly (partial
absence of the brain).
Meroencephaly results
from failure of the cranial
end of the neural tube to
close during the fourth
week.
 Craniosynostosis
Prenatal closure of the cranial sutures
results in the most severe abnormalities.
If the sagittal suture closes early, the
cranium becomes long, narrow, and
wedge shaped- scaphocephaly.
Premature closure of the coronal suture,
which results in a high, tower-like cranium
- brachycephaly. If the coronal suture
closes prematurely on one side only, the
cranium is twisted and asymmetrical-
plagiocephaly.
Premature closure of the frontal suture
results in a deformity of the frontal bone
and other anomalies- trigonocephaly.
Oxycephaly - is an abnormally tall skull. It
is due to premature closure of the suture
between presphenoid and postsphenoid
and the coronal suture, so that the skull is
very short anteroposteriorly.