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Skull Bones: Facial Bones

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3–4 minutes

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Facial bones are small and oddly shaped with funny names.

An illustration of a human skull, viewed from the anterior. The lacrimal and nasal areas are highlighted with dashed black lines. The skull has a full set of teeth, and the bony structures are clearly defined, showing sutures and contours. The word "Anterior" sits directly bellow the illustration.
Human skull, anterior view with lacrimal and nasal area outlined.
  • Vomer
  • Palatine
  • Nasal
  • Lacrimal
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I once had a student say to me, “I think this skull lost its nose.” I wasn’t sure if they were joking or not. The nose itself is made from gelatinous hyaline cartilage, which is part of the skeletal system. The superior rim of your nasal cartilage connects with the nasal bone. It is the slant of this bone that creates the nose bump, which is a genetically inherited trait. Like many of the facial bones, the nasal bones are paired – left and right. It is subtle, but you can see the midline articulation of these two bones in these diagrams. It can be hard to see that line on real models.

An anatomical illustration displays the anterior and lateral views of a skull. The nasal area is highlighted with dashed lines. Labels "Anterior" and "Lateral" are positioned below the corresponding views, providing orientation.
Anterior and lateral view of skull, nasal area outlined.
Diagram showing both anterior and lateral view of a human skull, where the lacrimal bone is highlighted with the dashed-line circles beneath the orbits. The “Anterior” label is beneath the anterior view and a “Lateral” label beneath the lateral view.
Skull diagram, anterior and lateral views, highlighting the lacrimal bone.

The word lacrimal means “tears.” You might not be sure if I mean “tears” as in rips. Or, I could mean “tears” as in the salty water that comes out of your eyes when you are sad. Without me saying this word, you could be confused. It’s the second one. The lacrimal bones are lateral to the nasal bones. However, a small patch of the maxillae separates them (this is plural for maxilla or the paired upper jaw bones). The lacrimal bone is important in creating the medial border of the eye socket. I once saw an episode of “Botched.” I love it. A woman had a bad nose job. Her one eye would constantly tear. It was damage to her tear ducts and what they said looked like fracture in the lacrimal bone.

Two views of a skull. The left view is from the inferior perspective, looking up at the lower part of the skull, showing teeth and the base of the skull. The soft palate and the vomer bone are indicated with pointed lines. The right view is a mid-sagittal section of the skull, with the palatine and vomer bones labeled.
Skull diagram showing the palatine and vomer bones in inferior and mid-sagittal views.

The vomer and the palatine bone can only be viewed from the inferior face of the skull. This view does not require dismantling the skull and looking at the inside. This inferior picture of the skull has the mandible or the lower jaw removed. So, you are kinda looking at the top of mouth there. The palatine bone, along with the maxillae form the roof of the mouth. Although you might breathe through your mouth at times, your nasal cavity is specialized for breathing. Meanwhile, the oral cavity is specialized for eating. The palatine bone separates these two open areas. There are various presentations of cleft palate. They all result in an incomplete separation of the nasal and oral cavities.

The vomer bone is hard to understand, even when viewed with these two presentations. The view from the inferior of the skull gives you the impression that the vomer is a small bone. No. It’s quite large when viewed in a sagittal section. The nasal cartilage connects to the paired nasal bones at its superior edge. It articulates with the vomer at the inferior border. The vomer bone, being straight down the sagittal plane, is fused to the inferior border of the nasal septum. A septum is a divider. Nasal septa can be “deviated” or can not be complete, allowing the nostril to exchange air. These issues usually manifest in trouble sleeping. If you have the deviated septum, you sleep fine. It’s the other person in the bed who hears a train whistle getting closer. Then it moves far away. It gets close again, then moves far away again. Combine this whistle with the constant motion of the bed. Someone who tosses and turns all night creates this motion. Then, you feel like you are on a boat.

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Long Bones
Stick Bones
Hands and Feet
Pectoral Girdle
Pelvic Girdle
Skull Bone
Facial Bones
Vertebrae & Ribs
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