The Mouth and Face 1 Flashcards
What is the front of the hard palate referred to as?
It has a bony roof and is referred to as the hard palate.
What is the back of the palate referred to as?
The back is entirely muscular therefore it is referred to as the soft palate.
What does the palate form a partition between?
It forms a partition between the nose and the mouth.
What is the bony palate bounded by in front and at the sides?
It is bounded by the 2 bony alveolar processes of the maxillae.
Where do the maxillary teeth lie?
The lie in this ridge of supporting bone between the 2 bony alveolar processes of the maxilla.
What is the anterior 2/3s of the bony palate palate formed by?
It is formed by the palatine processes of the maxillae.
What is the posterior third of the bony palate made up of?
It is made up of 2 horizontal plates of the palatine bones.
What are the horizontal plates of the palatine bones separated by?
They are separated by a midline suture.
What happens to the greater palatine canal as it approaches the palate on its descent from the pterygopalatine fossa?
It divides.
How do nerves and vessels pass into the palate?
- one group of nerves and vessels pass into the palate just medial to the upper third molar tooth in the palatine bone at the greater palatine foramen
- another group passes through the lesser palatine foramen just a short distance behind it
Describe the path of the greater palatine nerves.
They run anteriorly along the sides of the hard palate in a groove.
Describe the path of the lesser palatine nerves and vessels.
They run posteriorly into the soft palate.
Where is the incisive fossa and canal?
These are behind the incisor teeth.
What does the incisive canal conduct?
It conducts the terminal branches of the nasopalatine nerve into the front of the hard palate.
How do branches of the greater palatine arteries pass into the nose?
They pass through the incisive foramina for a short while.
Describe the mucous membrane towards the front of the hard palate?
It is raised into ridges called rugae.
What else do we have in the palate?
There are also mucous glands and minor salivary glands in the palate.
What are the rugae important for?
They are important for speech and eating.
How do the rugae assist when eating?
By rubbing food into the surface of the tongue and they contribute to the ability to taste things and judge texture.
Where does a flat palatine aponeurosis attach to?
It attaches to the posterior edge of the hard palate.
Where do the muscles of the soft palate insert?
They insert into the tough flat palatine aponeurosis.
How many muscles are there on either side of the palate?
There are 5 muscles.
Describe the soft palate.
It is very mobile and it moves and contracts in a complex manner when we speak and swallow.
Where do the levator palati and tensor palati arise from?
They arise from the base of the skull near the auditory tube.
Describe the path of the levator palati.
- passes over the top of the superior constrictor muscle at its upper border
- runs through the pharyngobasilar fascia here
- spreads out on top of the aponeurosis to insert into it
- approaches the fellow levator palati on the other side
What is the function of the levator palati?
It elevates the palate.
How does the tensor palati descend from the cranial base?
As a triangular sheet.
Where does the tensor palati originate from?
It originates from the scaphoid fossa of the sphenoid bone in front just between the roots of the 2 pterygoid plates and from the spine of the sphenoid bone behind, just by the foramen spinosum.
From these 2 points of origin, it converges inferiorly onto the pterygoid hamulu as a tendon.
How does the tensor palati interact with the pterygoid hamulus?
It curls around this structure and uses it as a pulley so its course is now more or less horizontal into the palatine aponeurosis.
What is the function of the tensor palati?
It flattens the domed soft palate when it contracts.
Where do the palatoglossus and palatopharyngeus muscle run from?
They run from the palatine aponeurosis and descend into the tongue and the pharynx respectively.
How does the palatopharyngeus interact with the levator palati on the top of the small palate?
2 slips of the palatopharyngeus muscle embrace the lower end of the levator palati on top of the small palate.
What does the palatopharyngus muscle attach to in the pharynx?
It descends into the pharynx and it attaches on to the thyroid lamina.
Where does the palatoglossus arise from?
It arises from the palatine aponeurosis.
Where does the palatoglossus muscle run into?
It runs into the side of the tongue
On their descent what do the palatoglossus and palatopharyngeus muscle create?
They create 2 ridges of mucous membrane called the palatoglossal (anterior pillar of the fauces) and the palatopharyngeal arches (posterior pillar of the fauces).
What does the palatoglossal arch form?
It forms the posterior boundary of the cavity of the mouth.
What do we have between the palatoglossal and the palatopharyngeal arches?
We have a fossa that contains the palatine tonsil.
What does the palatopharyngeus act as?
It acts as a constrictor muscle at the entrance of the oropharynx.
What is the musculus uvulae?
It is an intrinsic muscle of the soft palate.
Where does the musculus uvulae arise from?
It arises from the posterior edge of the hard palate in the midline and runs into a small tongue like flap called an uvula which hangs from the posterior edge of the soft palate.
What happens to the musculus uvulae in the midline?
It raises into a bulge in the upper surface of the soft palate during swallowing and this acts like a bung that can close off the nasopharynx from the mouth.
Describe the motor nerve supply to the pharyneal and palatine muscles.
It is through the vagoaccessory complex in the pharyngeal plexus and also through the laryngeal nerves.
What is the motor supply to the tensor palati?
It is supplied by a small nerve from the region of the otic ganglion and this comes from the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve.
What is the stylopharyngeus muscle supplied by?
It is in an intimate relationship with the glossopharyngeal nerve which is the 12th cranial nerve and it is supplied by this nerve.
What does the sensory supply of the pharynx depend on?
It depends on the level.
What is the sensory nerve supply to the roof of the nasopharynx and the nose?
They are supplied by the maxillary division of the trigeminal nerve
What do the palatine branches of the maxillary division of the trigeminal nerve supply?
They supply much of the palate, both hard and soft. Sensory supply.
What does the glossopharyngeal nerve supply sensation to?
They supply sensation to the
- oropharynx
- mucous membrane of the auditory tube
- tonsil
- little bit of the soft palate
What is the laryngopharynx supplied by?
It is supplied with sensation by the vagus nerve.
