Facial Anatomy Quiz

Facial Anatomy

• Facial Skeleton: Forms the front part of the skull, including the mandible. Major openings include orbits, piriform aperture (anterior nasal opening), and oral aperture. Foramina (supraorbital, infraorbital, and mental) are in the same vertical plane.

Skin of the Face

• Tension Lines: Run in an "onion skin" pattern from mouth to ear.
• Senile Wrinkles: Form at right angles to underlying muscle pull (horizontal on brow, crow's feet laterally, vertical on lips). Incisions along these wrinkles heal with minimal scarring.

Muscles of Facial Expression

• Embryological Origin: Developed from the second pharyngeal arch, migrating to adult positions.
• Innervation: Supplied by the seventh cranial (facial) nerve.
• Specialized Panniculus Carnosus: Specialized form of the panniculus carnosus, attached in places to dermis, potentially creating wrinkles.
• No Deep Fascia: Lacking deep fascia on the face.

Functional Muscle Groups

• Control of Orifices: Organized around the eyes, nose, and mouth, with sphincters (closing) and dilators (opening).
• Facial Expressions: Varying expressions are side effects of the muscles' actions; humans are sensitive to these expressions.
• Non-expressive Muscles: Some muscles, while connected to the face, do not primarily contribute to expression (e.g., ocular muscles, tongue, levator palpebrae superioris). Underlying muscle structure does not entirely affect facial appearance because genetic expression of surrounding connective tissue plays a large role. Understanding these muscles based on their functional groupings (orifices) is key to remembering them.

Muscles of the Eyelids

• Orbicularis Oculi: Composed of palpebral (gentle eyelid closure) and orbital (forceful eyelid closure) parts.
• Palpebral Part: Originates from medial palpebral ligament, spanning across lids, inserted into lateral palpebral raphe. Some lower fibers attach to posterior lacrimal crest and lacrimal sac.
• Orbital Part: Originates from anterior lacrimal crest and frontal process of maxilla, encircling orbital margin in loops. Lies flat over forehead and cheek.
• Levator Palpebrae Superioris: Opponent of palpebral orbicularis oculi.
• Occipitofrontalis: Part of scalp (refer to scalp section).

Muscles of the Nostrils

• Nasalis: Transverse (compressor naris) and alar (dilator naris) parts, surround alar cartilages; arise from maxilla. Other muscles (procerus, levator labii superioris alaeque nasi, depressor septi) can elevate and depress the nose.

Muscles of the Lips and Cheeks

• Orbicularis Oris: Sphincter of the mouth; composed of intrinsic (midline attachments) and extrinsic (from cheek muscles) fibers. Incisive and mental slips are deep fibres, securely attaching to the lips.
• Buccinator: Accessory muscle of mastication. Aids in managing food, pushing it towards the molars. The origin runs from the lateral aspects of mandible, opposite molars, extending to the pterygomandibular raphe (fibrous band). Pierced by the parotid duct opposite the third upper molar tooth.
• Dilator Muscles of Lips: Surround orbicularis oris, radiate outwards. Act in unison for widest lip opening
• Levator & Depressor Muscles: Flat sheets for lip elevation/depression, converging at the angle of the mouth. Individual muscles (levator labii superioris alaeque nasi, levator labii superioris, levator anguli oris, zygomaticus minor, zygomaticus major, risorius, depressor anguli oris, depressor labii inferioris, mentalis) work together to provide a wide range of expressions.

Nerve Supply of Facial Muscles

• Facial Nerve (VII): Primarily supplies all described facial muscles, with no sensory fibers on the face.
• Proprioception: Proprioceptive information from facial muscles is conducted via trigeminal nerve. Skin areas supplied by trigeminal nerve branches also provide proprioceptive information to facial muscles.

Sensory Nerve Supply of the Face

• Trigeminal Nerve (V): Three divisions (ophthalmic, maxillary, mandibular) provide cutaneous nerve supply to face in three zones. The zones meet at the eyelids and mouth corners.
• Individual Branches: Each division has specific branches (lacrimal, supraorbital, supratrochlear, infratrochlear, external nasal, infraorbital, zygomaticofacial, zygomaticotemporal, auriculotemporal, buccal, mental). The auriculotemporal, buccal, and mental are Mandibular branches, the others being Maxillary or Ophthalmic branches

Blood Supply of the Face

• Facial Artery: A major branch of the external carotid artery, supplies blood to the face, especially important are its labial branches to the upper and lower lips. The superficial temporal artery serves the temporal region.
• Venous Return: Predominantly superficial; supraorbital and supratrochlear veins form the angular vein, which merges into the facial vein. Facial vein joins with the retromandibular vein. Blood from temple areas is collected by the superficial temporal vein, flowing into the retromandibular vein, which joins the facial vein. Deep venous connections with the cavernous sinus are noted, defining the critical "danger areas."

Lymph Drainage of the Face

• Lymphatic Drainage: Drains to three superficial node groups: submental, submandibular, and preauricular. All eventually follow pathways to deep cervical lymph nodes.

Scalp (Part 7)

• (Refer to text) [Note: This section is not detailed in the summary but exists in the original text. Please supply the information contained in Part 7 if you want summary of that.]