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hard palate is vaulted and this vault is filled by the tongue when it is
at rest. Its bony skeleton is made up of the palatine processes of the
maxillae (anterior two thirds) and the horizontal plates of the palatine
bones (posterior third). The mucosa of the hard palate is tightly bound
to the underlying bone. The lingual gingiva
is continuous with the palatal mucosa and deep to the mucosa are mucus-secreting
palatine glands. At the anterior end of the hard palate are transverse
palatine folds which assist with the manipulation of food during chewing.
In the midline is a narrow whitish streak, the palatine raphe, which marks
the site of fusion of the embryonic palatal processes. The blood supply
is chiefly from the greater palatine artery of each side. The greater palatine
vessels emerge from the greater palatine foramina.
There is one of these on each side in the lateral border of the hard palate,
medial to the the upper 3rd molar tooth. Sensory nerves are branches of
the pterygopalatine ganglion. The greater palatine
nerve of each side emerges through the greater palatine foramen of its
own side to supply the gingivae, mucous membrane and glands of the hard
palate. The nasopalatine nerve supplies the mucous membrane of the anterior
part of the hard palate. The nasopalatine nerve passes from the nose through
incisive canals that open into the incisive foramen which is posterior
to the central incisor teeth. Behind each greater palatine foramen and
more laterally, is the pterygoid hamulus of each side. This is a bony process
around which the tendon of the tensor palati muscle (see soft palate) makes
a right angle turn before spreading in the aponeurosis of the soft palate. |
The
most posterior end of the hard palate is extended a little bit in the midline
and this process is called the posterior nasal spine.
Figure 2. The hard palate
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