what is the hard palate made of?
skeletal muscle
what is the soft palate made of?
skeletal muscle covered in oral mucosa
what 4 bones make up the hard palate?
- right and left maxilla
- right and left palatine bone
what makes up the horizontal plate?
palatine bones
what makes up the pyramidal process?
palatine bones heading back towards the pterygoid plate of the sphenoid bone
what passes through the greater palatine foreman and what does it supply?
greater palatine NVB to supply hard palate
what passes through the lesser palatine foreman and what does it supply?
lesser palatine NVB to supply the soft palate
what structure sits at the anterior edge of the hard palate?
incisive canal
what makes up the lateral wall of the hard palate?
- medial pterygoid plate of sphenoid bone
- pterygoid hamulus
- palatine bone
- palatine process of maxilla
what makes up the medial wall of the hard palate?
nasal cavity
what epithelium covers the hard palate?
keratinised stratified squamous epithelium
what epithelium covers the soft palate?
non-keratinised stratified squamous epithelium
what sits under the incisive canal and what runs through it?
Incisive papilla where the nasopalatine nerve goes through it
what is the function of palatal rugae?
helps with mechanical breakdown of food
what is the palatine raphe?
fusion of palatal shelves
what causes cleft palate?
due to failure of lateral palatine processes to meet and fuse
what are the complications of cleft palate?
- speech
- dental health
- feeding
- hearing
what are the nerves and vessels of palate?
- nasopalatine nerve (V2)
- greater and lesser palatine arteries
- greater and lesser palatine nerves (see photo)
what supplies the palatal gingivae of anterior teeth & mucosa of the anterior palate?
branch of nasopalatine nerve - passes through incisive foramen
what is the somatic sensory nerve supply to the anterior edge of the hard palate?
incisive branch of nasopalatine
what is the lymphatic drainage of the anterior hard palate?
submandibular nodes > deep cervical nodes >thoracic duct
what is the lymphatic drainage of the posterior hard palate and soft palate?
retropharyngeal nodes >deep cervical nodes (however some drain straight into the deep cervical nodes)
what drains the palatine tonsil?
jugulo-diagastric node
what is the uvula made of?
2 underlying skeletal muscles - right and left musculus uvulae
what arch runs anterior to the tonsil and what direction does it run?
palatoglossal arch - runs from soft palate and inserts onto the side of the tongue
what arch runs posterior to the tonsil and what direction does it run?
palatopharyngeal arch-runs from soft palate into oral pharynx
what do the two arches make?
tonsiler cript
what are the 5 pairs of muscles of the soft palate and what are their functions?
- levator veli palatini (elevates palate)
- tensor veli palatini (tenses palate)
- musculus uvulae
- palatoglossus (palate towards tongue)
- palatopharyngeus (a longitudinal muscle of the pharynx)
what are most of the muscles of the soft palate supplied by?
the vagus nerve
what muscle is not supplied by vagus and what is it supplied by?
tensor veli palatini- (CN V3)
Describe the palatine aponeurosis?
- tensor veli palatini
- attaches superiorly to the sphenoid bone
- its tendon turns medially around the pterygoid hamulus & enters the soft palate
- its tendon then flattens out within the soft palate & joins with the tendon of the opposite muscle to form the palatine aponeurosis
where does the levator veli palatini run?
from petrous temporal bone to soft palate
where does sapinopharyngeus run?
auditory tube to pharynx
where does the palatopharyngeus run?
soft palate to pharynx posterior to palatoglossus
what is the clinical testing for tonsils?
say “ahhh”
what should happen if the nerves are functioning normally?
uvula should lift straight up in the midline
what if the nerves are not functioning properly?
if there is unilateral nerve pathology the uvula will be pulled away from the non-functioning side by the normal side
what are the functions of the soft palate?
Functions as a “trapdoor”:
- stops food entering the nose during swallowing
- directs air into the nose or the mouth during speech, sneezing, coughing & vomiting
- helps to close off the entrance into the oropharynx during the gag reflex