In the human mouth, the incisive foramen (also known as: "''anterior palatine foramen''", or "''nasopalatine foramen''") is the opening of the incisive canals on the

hard palate The hard palate is a thin horizontal bony plate made up of two bones of the facial skeleton, located in the roof of the mouth. The bones are the palatine process of the maxilla and the horizontal plate of palatine bone. The hard palate spans t ...

immediately behind the

incisor teeth Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...

. It gives passage to blood vessels and nerves. The incisive foramen is situated within the incisive fossa of the

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. T ...

. The incisive foramen is used as an

anatomical landmark Anatomical terminology is a form of scientific terminology used by anatomists, zoologists, and health professionals such as doctors. Anatomical terminology uses many unique terms, suffixes, and prefixes deriving from Ancient Greek and Latin. ...

for defining the severity of

cleft lip and cleft palate A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate (the roof of the mouth) contains an opening into the nose. The te ...

. The incisive foramen exists in a variety of species.

Structure

The incisive foramen is a funnel-shaped opening of the in the bone of the oral

representing the inferior termination of the

incisive canal The incisive canals (also: "''nasopalatine canals''") are two bony canals of the anterior hard palate connecting the nasal cavity and the oral cavity. An incisive canal courses through each maxilla. Below, the two incisive canals typically converg ...

. An oral prominence - the incisive papilla - overlies the incisive fossa. The incisive foramen is situated immediately behind the

, and in between the two

premaxillae The premaxilla (or praemaxilla) is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammal has b ...

The incisive foramen allows for blood vessels and nerves to pass. These include: * the pterygopalatine nerves to the hard palate. * the

nasopalatine nerve The nasopalatine nerve (long sphenopalatine nerve) is a nerve of the head. It is a branch of the pterygopalatine ganglion, a continuation from the maxillary nerve (V2). It supplies parts of the palate and nasal septum. Structure The nasopalati ...

s from the floor of the

nasal cavity The nasal cavity is a large, air-filled space above and behind the human nose, nose in the middle of the face. The nasal septum divides the cavity into two cavities, also known as fossae. Each cavity is the continuation of one of the two nostrils. ...

. *the sopalatine branches of the

infratrochlear nerve The infratrochlear nerve is a branch of the nasociliary nerve, itself a branch of the ophthalmic nerve. Structure The nasociliary nerve terminates by bifurcating into the infratrochlear and the anterior ethmoidal nerves. The infratrochlear ne ...

, a branch of the

ophthalmic nerve The ophthalmic nerve (V1) is a sensory nerve of the face. It is one of three divisions of the trigeminal nerve (CN V). It has three branches that provide sensory innervation to the eye, the skin of the upper face, and the skin of the anterior sc ...

(V1), itself a branch of the

trigeminal nerve In neuroanatomy, the trigeminal nerve ( lit. ''triplet'' nerve), also known as the fifth cranial nerve, cranial nerve V, or simply CN V, is a cranial nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as biting and chew ...

. * the

sphenopalatine artery The sphenopalatine artery (nasopalatine artery) is an artery of the head, commonly known as the artery of epistaxis. Course The sphenopalatine artery is a branch of the maxillary artery which passes through the sphenopalatine foramen into the cavi ...

supplying the

mucous membrane A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It i ...

covering the hard palate of the mouth. * the

sphenopalatine vein Sphenopalatine may refer to: * sphenopalatine artery, an artery of the head, commonly known as the artery of epistaxis * sphenopalatine ganglion (or "pterygopalatine ganglion") * sphenopalatine nerves * sphenopalatine foramen The sphenopalatine for ...

draining the mucous membrane covering the hard palate of the mouth.

Clinical significance

As many nerves exit the

at the incisive foramen, it may be used for injection of

local anaesthetic A local anesthetic (LA) is a medication that causes absence of pain sensation. In the context of surgery, a local anesthetic creates an absence of pain in a specific location of the body without a loss of consciousness, as opposed to a general ...

. When plain radiographs are taken of the mouth, the incisive foramen may be mistaken for a periapical lesion. The incisive foramen can be used as a landmark when describing

, which can either extend in front of (primary) or behind (secondary) the foramen. It is also important as a

surgical Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

landmark to avoid damaging its nerves and vascular structures.

History

The incisive foramen is also known as the anterior palatine foramen, the nasopalatine foramen, and the incisive fossa.

Other animals

In many other species, the incisive foramina allow for passage of ducts to the

vomeronasal organ The vomeronasal organ (VNO), or Jacobson's organ, is the paired auxiliary olfactory (smell) sense organ located in the soft tissue of the nasal septum, in the nasal cavity just above the roof of the mouth (the hard palate) in various tetrapods. T ...

. It can be found in cats, and

alligators An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additionall ...

Additional images

File:Gray187.png, Inferior surface of base of skull File:Incisive fossa.jpg, Incisive fossa

References

External links

* {{Authority control Foramina of the skull