Anatomy of Facial Arteries

Arterial Supply of the Face

• Facial artery: pierces deep fascia at the lower border of the mandible, curves up to the face, and ascends to the medial angle of the eye, where it anastomoses with the ophthalmic artery.
• Superficial temporal artery: smaller terminal branch of the external carotid artery, ascends in front of the auricle to supply the scalp.
• Transverse facial artery: branch of the superficial temporal artery, runs forward across the cheek just above the parotid duct.
• Infraorbital artery: terminal part of the maxillary artery, enters the face via the infraorbital foramen.
• Mental artery: branch of the inferior alveolar from the maxillary artery, enters the face via the mental foramen of the mandible.
• Zygomaticofacial and zygomaticotemporal arteries: from the superficial temporal artery.
• Lacrimal artery: from the ophthalmic artery, of the internal carotid artery.
• Supraorbital and Supratrochlear arteries: branches of the ophthalmic artery, of the internal carotid artery, supply the skin of the forehead.

Branches of Facial Artery

• Submental artery: supplies skin of the chin and lower lip.
• Inferior labial artery: runs medially in the lower lip and anastomoses with its fellow of the opposite side.
• Superior labial artery: runs medially in the upper lip and gives branches to the septum and ala of the nose.
• Lateral nasal artery: supplies skin on the side and dorsum of the nose.

Venous Drainage of Face

• Facial vein: formed at the medial angle of the eye by the union of supraorbital and supratrochlear veins, connected to the cavernous sinus through the superior ophthalmic vein.
• Facial vein descends behind the facial artery to the lower border of the body of the mandible, crosses with the facial artery superficial to the submandibular gland, and is joined by the anterior division of the retromandibular vein to form the common facial vein.
• Facial vein ends into the internal jugular vein.

Tributaries of Facial Vein

• Receives tributaries that correspond to the branches of the facial artery.
• Joined to the pterygoid venous plexus by the deep facial vein and to the cavernous sinus by the superior ophthalmic vein.
• Transverse facial vein joins the superficial temporal vein within the parotid gland.

Lymph Drainage of the Face

• Lymph from the forehead and anterior part of the face drains into the submandibular L.Ns.
• Lateral part of the face and lateral parts of the eyelids drain into the parotid L.Ns.
• Lower lip and chin are drained into the submental L.Ns.

Muscles of Face

• There are 17 muscles of facial expression, which pull the skin of the face to produce various expressions.
• They are arranged in groups around the eye, nose, and mouth.
• They have bony origin and are inserted into the skin of the face (no deep fascia in the face).
• They are supplied by branches of the facial nerve, except the levator palpebrae superioris, which is supplied by the occulomotor nerve (striated muscle) and sympathetic nerve (smooth muscle).