The incisive papilla is an oval
midline mucosal
prominence of the anterior
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 ...
overlying the
incisive fossa
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 immediately behind the incisor teeth. It gives passage to blood vess ...
.
It is situated posteriorly to the central incisors,
and represents the anterior extremity of the
palatine raphe
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. .
The incisive papilla marks the position of the foetal nasopalatine canal.
Anatomy
Variation
Though generally referred to as round or oval in shape, the shape of the incisive papilla has been noted to vary in shape, its other potential shapes have been described as including: pear, spindle, flame, cylindrical, tapering, or dumb bell shaped.
Microanatomy
The incisive papilla consist of dense connective tissue. It is lined with simple or pseudostratified columnar epithelium, and is often keratinized.
Clinical significance
Pressure exerted upon the incisive papilla by maxillary dentures may cause pain or discomfort.
The incisive papilla is utilized as an anatomical landmark when administering a nasopalatine
nerve block
Nerve block or regional nerve blockade is any deliberate interruption of signals traveling along a nerve, often for the purpose of pain relief. Local anesthetic nerve block (sometimes referred to as simply "nerve block") is a short-term block, u ...
; the needle is inserted at a 45° angle just lateral to the incisive papilla.
See also
*
Papilla (disambiguation)
Papilla (Latin, 'nipple') or papillae may refer to:
In animals
* Papilla (fish anatomy), in the mouth of fish
* Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish
* Dental papilla, in a developing tooth
* Dermal papillae, part of ...
References
External links
Diagram at ana.bris.ac.uk
Palate
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