The frontal bone is one of the flat cranial bones that forms the forehead and roof of the orbits. The frontal bone also forms the upper part of the nasal cavity as well as forming the floor of the skull, where the brain is housed. Two cavities, the frontal sinuses, lie within the frontal bone, just behind the spots above each orbit. The frontal bone is attached to the parietal bones by the coronal suture, and is also connected by sutures to the sphenoid, ethmoid bone, maxillary, nasal, lachrymal, and zygomatic bones. In the center of the front of the frontal bone, just between and slightly above the orbits, is a raised portion of the bone, called the glabella. The frontal bone also features two foramina. one just above each orbit. Research Frontal Bone
The maxilla is one of the primary facial bones and defines much of the face below the orbits and above the jawbone. The maxilla (with the ethmoid bone, frontal bone, and zygomatic bones) forms much of the lateral walls of the nasal cavity, the orbital cavity, and part of the cheek. The
maxilla also mounts the top row of teeth in a non-movable foundation, so that chewing is enabled by moving the mandibular teeth against them. The outer wings of the maxilla, where it meets the zygomatic bones, are called the zygomatic processes. The upper part of the
maxilla, which forms the lower, inner surface of the orbit cavity, is called the orbital surface of the
maxilla, while the exterior surface, just between the orbit and the nasal cavity, is called the frontal process of the
maxilla. The roof of the mouth is formed by the palatine bone, which is attached to the maxilla just behind the teeth. Research Maxilla
The skull is one of the principle groups of bones in the human anatomy. The skull consists of twenty-six bones: eight bones form the skull, which houses the brain and ear ossicles, plus fourteen facial bones, which form the front of the face, jaw, nose, orbits, and the roof of the mouth, three more bones make up the inner ear ossicles, and one more, the hyoid bone, is in the neck and is attached to the temporal bone by ligaments and anchors the tongue. The skull also contains a dental arcade of teeth, which are technically not bones, though they do share some of the compositional characteristics of bonetissue. Children may grow twenty deciduousteeth, which will eventually fall out and be replaced by the permanent teeth.
The bones of the skull include the frontal bone, the occipital bone, two parietal bones, and two temporal bones. The lower rearmost part of each temporal bone is called the mastoid process, but because it is separated from the temporal bone, proper, by a suture, it is often considered a separate bone. The sphenoid bone forms the central base of the skull and spans the skull from side to side, the greater wings forming side plates of the skull. The sections of the ethmoid bone are positioned between the orbits, forming the walls and roof of the nasal cavity, while the three middle ear ossicles (stapes, malleus, and incus) are located within the temporal bones on each side of the skull. The U-shaped hyoid bone is found in the neck, and is attached by ligaments to the temporal bones. In the face, the two maxillary bones form much of the orbits, nose, upper jaw and roof of the mouth, while the zygomatic bones form the cheeks. The lachrymal bones are located on the inner sides of the orbits and are attached to the ethmoid bone and maxillary bones. Within the nasal cavity, the vomer is located in the low center and forms the thin flat bone of the nasalseptum, while two inferior urbinates form the lower sides of the cavity and two palate bones form the floor of the nasal cavity as well as the roof of the mouth.
The mandible is the only movable part of the skull, forming the lower jaw and mounting the teeth. The bones of the skull, with the exception of the mandible, are held together by very thin sutures, or seams, in which the periosteum of the individual bones interweave with each other, and are cemented by a fibrous, connective tissue. In the newborn, these sutures are not yet developed, with the bones being attached by cartilage which ossifies over time as the bones of the skull fuse together. The most evident external sutures of the skull include the coronal suture, joining the frontal bone and parietal bone, the sagittal suture, joining the parietal bones to each other, the lambdoid suture, joining the occipital and parietal bones, the squamous suture, joining the temporal and sphenoid bones to the parietal bone on each side of the skull.
The pterion is the short segment of the suture joining the squamous and parietal bones. The bones of the skull also feature a number of sinuses and foramina. Four pairs of sinuses flank the nasal cavity. Two are found in the maxillary bone, and are called maxillary sinuses. The sphenoid bone forms two paranasal sinuses called the sphenoids, and the ethmoid bone forms the two paranasal sinuses called ethmoids. Additionally, the frontal sinuses are located in the frontal bone just behind the roof of each orbit. The foramen magnum is a large, round opening in the base of the skull which admits the spinal cord, while at the base of each temporal bone is the external auditory meatus, which serve as the auditory canals. Just above each orbit in the frontal bone is a small notch or hole, called a supraorbital foramen, and just below each orbit, in the maxillary bone, is an infraorbital foramen. Two more openings, one on each side of the skull, can be found in the frontal processes of the zygomatic bones, and are called zygomatofacial foramina.
On each side of the mandible, just below the lower canines, are the mental foramina. These facial foramina serve to admit blood vessels and nerves through and into the bone. The teeth are mounted in the maxillary bone and the mandible, and are brought together for chewing by the hinge-like motion of the mandible. An average adult will have thirty-two teeth, evenly arrayed on the maxilla and mandible. Research Skull
The zygomaticus minor (caput zygomaticum quadrati labii superioris) muscle is a slender cheek muscle, which originates from the zygomatic bones and extends downward and inward, and is inserted into the orbicularis oris muscle along the upper lip. It is supplied by the facial artery and innervated by the facial nerve (VII cranial nerve) This muscle lies just in front of the zygomaticus major muscle and draws the upper lip backward, upward and outward and is used in expressing sadness. Research Zygomaticus Minor
The zygomatic or malar bones form the cheek and the lower, outside rim of the orbits. The temporal process of the zygomatic bone curves around the side of the skull to meet the zygomatic process of the temporal bone, forming the zygomatic arch. The upper, frontal part of the zygomatic bone, forming the outer rim of the orbit and meeting the frontal bone, is called the frontal process, while the orbital surface defines the smooth, lower and outer wall of the orbital cavity. Each zygomatic bone features a zygomaticofacial foramen, or opening, into the bone near the lower corner of the orbit. Research Zygomatic Bones
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Frontal Bone
