Key Terms
BRAIN CASE (cranium)
8 bones surrounding and protecting the brain
FACIAL BONES
14 bones forming the jaws, nose, orbits, palate
CORONAL
Frontal bone joins right and left parietal bones; runs side to side across the top of the skull SAGITTAL: joins right an
LAMBDOID
Inverted V-shape; joins occipital bone to parietal and temporal bones on the posterior skull SQUAMOUS: lateral skull; jo
PTERION
H-shaped junction region on the lateral skull where the frontal, parietal, temporal (squamous), and sphenoid (greater wi
MAXILLA
Upper jaw; forms the upper teeth socket (alveolar process), the anterior three-quarters of the hard palate, the floor of
PALATINE BONE
Forms the posterior quarter of the hard palate (horizontal plate) and small portions of the nasal cavity and orbit walls
ZYGOMATIC BONE
Cheekbone; forms the lateral wall of the orbit and anterior zygomatic arch via its temporal process.
NASAL BONES (paired)
Form the bony bridge of the nose; these are what breaks in a broken nose.
LACRIMAL BONE
Small bone on the anterior medial wall of the orbit; contains the lacrimal fossa and nasolacrimal canal, which drains te
VOMER
Unpaired; triangular; forms the posterior-inferior portion of the nasal septum.
INFERIOR NASAL CONCHA
Independent bone; largest of the three conchae; projects from the lower lateral nasal cavity wall.
Functions
Lighten the skull, add vocal resonance.
FRONTAL
Above the eyebrows; most anterior MAXILLARY: below the orbits in the maxillary bones; largest sinus; most commonly infec
BODY
Elongated central portion; ribs 2-7 attach here (rib 2 at the sternal angle; ribs 3-7 on the body)