Morphology of the Hard Palate: a Study of Dry Skulls and Review of the Literature

The purpose of this study was to determine hard palate morphology to provide guidelines for practitioners. This study measured the hard palate of 63 skulls of unsexed and unknown age from Indian subcontinent. The means and standard deviations of the following parameters were: greater palatine foramen maximum width, 2.3 ± 0.5 mm; lesser palatine foramen maximum width, 0.9 ± 0.4 mm; incisive foramen maximum width, 4.08 ± 0.99 mm; canine to canine intersocket distance, 23.5 ± 2.2 mm; distance between right and left greater palatine foramen, 27.6 ± 2.77 mm; palatal breadth, 37.97 ± 3.32 mm; palatal length, 52.2 ± 3.2 mm; palatal height, 11.54 ± 2.4 mm; greater palatine foramen to the base of medial pterygoid hamulus distance, 8.7 ± 2.2 mm; distance from greater palatine foramen to median maxillary suture, 13.8 ± 1.5 mm; angle between the midline and a line between the orale and the greater palatine foramen, 16.45 ± 1.60. The leptostaphyline and orthostaphyline were the most prevalent types of palatine index and palate height index in this study. Asymmetry indices ranged between 4.3 18.3%. The present study provides morphometric and qualitative data of the hard palate derived from Indian skulls. Knowledge of the position and diameter of the palatine foramina is essential in performing localized anaesthesia before surgical procedures. In addition, the data may be useful in ancestry determination using the hard palate.