Alveolar process of maxilla

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alveolar process
Left maxilla. Outer surface. (Alveolar process visible at bottom.)
Cartilages of the nose, seen from below. (Alveolar process of maxilla visible at bottom.
Latin	processus alveolaris maxillae
Gray's	subject #38 161
Dorlands/Elsevier	p_34/12667282

The alveolar process is the thickened ridge of bone that contains the tooth sockets on bones that bear teeth. It is also referred to as the alveolar bone. In humans, the tooth-bearing bones are the maxilla and the mandible.

On the maxilla, the alveolar process is a ridge on the inferior surface, and on the mandible it is ridge on the superior surface. It makes up the thickest part of the maxilla.

The buccinator muscle attaches to the alveolar processes of both the maxilla and mandible.

[edit] References

• Cate, A.R. Ten. Oral Histology: development, structure, and function. 5th ed. 1998. ISBN 0-8151-2952-1.
• Gray, Henry. Anatomy of the Human Body. (1918). ISBN 1-58734-102-6
• "Process, alveolar." Stedman's Medical Dictionary, 27th ed. (2000). ISBN 0-683-40007-X

[edit] External links

• Dictionary at eMedicine alveolar+process+of+maxilla

Facial bones v • d • e

maxilla: body of maxilla: Incisive fossa | Maxillary sinus | Canine fossa | Infraorbital foramen | Anterior nasal spine | Alveolar canals | Infraorbital canal | Pterygopalatine canal Zygomatic process | Frontal process (Agger nasi | Anterior lacrimal crest) | Alveolar process | Palatine process (Incisive foramen | Incisive canals | Foramina of Scarpa | Premaxilla | Anterior nasal spine) lacrimal bone: Posterior lacrimal crest | Lacrimal groove zygomatic bone: Zygomaticofacial foramen | Zygomaticotemporal foramen | Zygomaticoörbital foramina palatine bone: Pterygopalatine fossa | Pterygoid fossa | Horizontal plate (Posterior nasal spine) | Perpendicular plate (Pterygopalatine canal | Sphenopalatine foramen | Pyramidal process) processes (Orbital | Sphenoidal) mandible: body (Symphysis menti, Mental foramen, Mylohyoid line) | Ramus mandibulae (Mandibular foramen, Mandibular canal, Mandibular notch) others: nasal bone | inferior nasal conchae (maxillary process) | vomer