The infraorbital canal is a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

found at the base of the

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as ...

that opens on to 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 ...

. It is continuous with the

infraorbital groove The infraorbital groove (or sulcus) is located in the middle of the posterior part of the orbital surface of the maxilla. Its function is to act as the passage of the infraorbital artery, the infraorbital vein, and the infraorbital nerve. St ...

and opens onto the maxilla at the

infraorbital foramen In human anatomy, the infraorbital foramen is one of two small holes in the skull's upper jawbone (maxillary bone), located below the eye socket and to the left and right of the nose. Both holes are used for blood vessels and nerves. In anatomica ...

. The

infraorbital nerve The infraorbital nerve is a branch of the maxillary nerve, itself a branch of the trigeminal nerve (CN V). It travels through the orbit and enters the infraorbital canal to exit onto the face through the infraorbital foramen. It provides sensory ...

and

infraorbital artery The infraorbital artery is an artery in the head that branches off the maxillary artery, emerging through the infraorbital foramen, just under the orbit of the eye. Course The infraorbital artery appears, from its direction, to be the continuatio ...

travel through the canal.

Structure

One of the

s of the orbital surface of the

, the infraorbital canal, opens just below the margin of the

, the area of the

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...

containing the eye and related structures. It should not be confused with the

, with which it is continuous.

Function

It transmits the

as well as

, both of which enter this canal at the infraorbital groove and after coursing through the maxillary sinus exit via the

. Before exiting, the

anterior superior alveolar nerve The anterior superior alveolar nerve (or anterior superior dental nerve), is a branch of the infraorbital nerve, itself a branch of the maxillary nerve (V2). It branches from the infraorbital nerve within the infraorbital canal before the infraorbi ...

middle superior alveolar nerve The middle superior alveolar nerve is a nerve that drops from the infraorbital portion of the maxillary nerve to supply the sinus mucosa, the roots of the maxillary premolars, and the mesiobuccal root of the first maxillary molar. It is not al ...

and corresponding arteries will branch off.

References

External links

Description at uams.edu
{{Authority control Foramina of the skull