ADULT SKULL

BONY LANDMARKS OF THE

SKULL
•  Nasion (NA) – point on skull where the internasal suture
and frontonasal suture meet
• sagittal plane.
• Glabella (GL) - the most anterior projection part of
forehead
•  Bregma (BR) - the crossing of the coronal and sagittal
sutures on the top of the skull.
Lambda ,point on calvaria where lambdoid
and sagital suture cross
 BONY LANDMARKS
CONTD.
• .
• Opisthocranium (OPC) - the most posterior point in
midline of inion bone
 Basion (BA) - the most anterior point of the great foramen
magnum in the sagittal plane
• Prosthion (PR) - the lowest, most anterior point on the
alveolar portion of the premaxilla,in the median plane,
between the upper central incisors
•
 BONE SURFACE MARKINGS
• Foramen = opening (arteries, nerves)
• Fossa = shallow depression
• Sulcus = shallow groove (artery or nerve)
• Canal = longer, tubelike opening
• Fissure = narrow, cleftlike opening
• Notch = indentation at the end of a bone
• Meatus = type of canal
• Condyle = large, round protuberance, attachment of muscles
• Epicondyle = above or upon a condyle
• Facet = smooth flat articular surface
• Trochanter = very large projection
• Tuberosity = large, rounded, roughened projection
• Tubercle = rounded eminence/elevation
• Crest = roughened border or ridge
• Spine = sharply pointed projection
DIAGRAM( BONY LANDMARKS)
 DEFINITION
Skeleton of the head or
Bony framework of the head
Consists of cranium and facial skeleton
Cranium =8 bones
Facial skeleton=14 bones
• FRONTAL BONE

• -Extends from the

supra orbital margin
to the coronal suture

– Forms the forehead

• Roof of the orbit

-Articulates with
parietal, sphenoid,
lacrimal, nasal,
ethmoid, zygomatic
and maxilla
FRONTAL BONE
•PARIETAL BONES
-Part of the superior and lateral surfaces of the cranium
-Articulate with each other – sagittal suture
-Articulate with occipital, frontal,
temporal and sphenoid bones
 TEMPORAL BONE
4 PARTS
– Squamous part:
anterior portion, fan-
shaped
– Petrous part:
posterior portion
– Tympanic part:
associated with ear
canal
– Mastoid part
TEMPORAL BONE
 SQUAMOUS PART

• Anterior portion, fan-shaped

• Two prominent features
• – Zygomatic process
• -forms cranial portion of the TMJ joint
• TMJ
• – Mandibular fossa
 . TYMPANIC PART
Small ring of bone that borders the external
acoustic meatus
– Styloid process( a pointed spine )
• Provides attachment
for muscles of the
tongue, pharynx, and
hyoid bones
-stylomastoid foramen (7th cranial)
 MASTOID PART

• Mastoid process prominent

• Lump behind the earlobe
• Also for attachment of
sternocleidomastoid muscle
 PETROUS PART
• Resembles a little mountain range
• Separating the middle cranial fossa from the
posterior fossa
• – Houses the middle and inner ear cavities
• – Internal acoustic meatus allows
• passage of the vestibulocochlear verve
• (hearing and balance)
 PETROUS PART CONTD.
• – Carotid canal passes
• the internal carotid artery
• – Jugular foramen formed
• By the temporal bone and the
• occipital bone and passes the
• internal jugular vein
• OCCIPITAL BONE
• Part of the base of the skull
• Articulates with parietal,
temporal and sphenoid
• Surrounds the foramen
magnum
• Lateral to the FM –
hypoglossal canal (12th
cranial)
• Projections = occipital
condyles
• Forms part of the jugular
foramen
OCCIPITAL BONE
• SPHENOID BONE
• Butterfly shaped
– Contributes to floor of cranium
– Articulates with the frontal,
ethmoid, temporal
zygomatic, parietal maxillary,
palatine, vomer & occipital
bones
– 3PARTS
– – Greater wing
– Lesser wing
– Body

–
 SHENOID
GREATER WING LESSER WING
Foramen rotundum ;maxillary Forms the posterior wall of the
branch orbit
• of trigeminal n • – Contains
• – Foramen ovale;mandiular branch
• Optic foramen (optic nerve
• of trigeminal n
and ophthalmic artery)
• –Foramen Spinosum ;artery
Superior orbital fissure -3rd,
• to the meninges
4th, 6th cranial n
• – Foramen lacerum;filled
• Anterior clinoid process -
• with cartilage, no vessels are
guard the optic foramen
• nerves transmitted
 SHENOID BONE
Pterygoid processes
BODY
– Sella turcica • (medial and lateral
plates)
• has deep pit that called the
-Inferior to the greater wings
hypophyseal fossa which
– Provide attachment for jaw
houses the pituitary gland muscles
• Turberculum –
sellae( anterior raised
margin)
• Dorsum sellae( posterior
margin)
Sphenoid sinuses
SPHENOID BONE
ETHMOID BONE – Irregularly shaped bone
– Forms part of orbital wall
– Forms roof of nasal cavity
– Articulates with: frontal, sphenoid,
lacrimal and maxillary bones
Crista galli-triangular projection b/w
cribiform plates
For attachment of meninges(dura m.)
– Two lateral masses – contain the
ethmoid sinuses
• projections called the superior and
middle nasal conchae
– Two plates: perpendicular plate
& the cribiform plate
– Cribiform plate: perforations for
olfactory nerve,
– Perpendicular plate = upper part of
nasal septum
 SUTURES
fibrous Immovable joints that
connect the bones of the skull
Form boundaries between skull
bones
Five sutures
– Coronal
– Sagittal
– Lambdoid
– Squamous
– Frontonasal
 CRANIAL SUTURES
• Cranial sutures are the fibrous joints that
connect the bones of the skull. These joints
are formed by interlocking, immovable
fibrous tissue between adjacent bones. They
allow for slight movement during infancy to
accommodate brain growth but eventually
fuse together in adulthood to form a solid
structure. There are several main cranial
sutures:
1.Coronal suture: This runs horizontally across the
skull, separating the frontal bone from the parietal
bones.
2.Sagittal suture: This extends vertically along the top
of the skull, between the two parietal bones, and
connects them together.
3.Lambdoid suture: This is located at the back of the
skull, where the parietal bones meet the occipital
bone.
4.Squamous suture: This joins the temporal bone to the
parietal bone on each side of the skull
-Two foramina in each palatine bone
1. Greater palatine – about 3rd molar
-greater palatine nerve, landmark
for administration of local
2. Lesser palatine – lesser palatine
nerve to soft palate
• Lacrimal bones
– Smallest bones in skull
– Forms nasolacrimal groove leading to nasolacrimal
canal
– Delivers tears to nasal cavity
• INFERIOR NASAL CONCHA
– Located on each side of nasal septum
– Increase epithelial surface
– Create turbulence in inspired air
 Vomer

Vomer
Thin midline plate of bone
Quadrilateral in shape
Forms posterior part of nasal septum
Articulates with maxillae and palatines
 MANDIBLE
• Lower jaw
• Only freely movable bone of the skull
• Moving articulations with temporal bone
 MANDIBLE: ANTERIOR
SURFACE
• Many landmarks on the
body
– Mental protruberence –
beneath the roots of the
mandibular incisors
– Faint ridge at the midline
– mandibular symphysis
(fusion of right and left
processes during
development)
Lateral to the midline –
mental foramina (mental
nerve and vessels into the
mandibular canal)
 MANDIBLE: ANTERIOR & LATERAL
SURFACES

• Superior to the body – alveolar

processes of the mandible

• Ramus – superior and posterior to the

body
– primary area for attachment of
muscles for mastication

– Anterior border is the coronoid

process
– Posterior border – mandibular
condyle
– Between in the mandibular notch
or coronoid notch (landmark for
local)
– Ramus and body joined at the
external oblique line
– Superior to this – coronoid notch
 Mandible: Inferior
surface

-visible are the genial tubercles – or mental spines

-muscle attachment area
-two fossas: 1) sublingual (sublingual salivary gl.)
2) submandibular (submandibular gl.)
-divided by the mylohyoid line (mylohyoid m.)
-mandibular foramen – opening of the mandibular canal
-for the exit of the alveolar nerve and vessels
-can be lost with alveolar process reabsorption
-overhanging the foramen – lingula (attachment of sphenomandibular
ligament – TMJ)
 CRANIAL FOSSAE

• Depressions in
cranial floor
• Anterior cranial fossa
– Frontal bone,
ethmoid, lesser wings
of sphenoid
• Middle cranial fossa
– Sphenoid, temporal
bones, parietal bones
• Posterior cranial
fossa
– Occipital bone,
temporal bones,