Chapter 7 - SKULL

Abstract

Publisher Summary The complexity of the human skull can best be understood by recognizing the widely differing functions it performs. It forms the bony foundation for the senses of sight, smell, taste, and hearing. Therefore, while handling, the skull should be handled above a padded surface and stabilized against rolling on the surface by means of sandbags or cloth rings designed for this purpose. Care should be exercised when occluding the upper and lower jaws in this fashion, and padding should always be placed between the teeth if the skull is stored in this position. The skull is the entire bony framework of the head, including the lower jaw. The mandible is the lower jaw. At birth the skull is made up of forty-five separate elements. The most useful and informative comparisons between skulls of different individuals are usually the comparisons made when both the skulls are in the same orientation. Skulls are normally viewed from six standard perspectives, all in Frankfurt Horizontal. Viewed from above, the skull is seen in norma verticalis, when viewed from either side, the skull is seen in norma lateralis, norma occipitalis is the posterior view of the skull, viewed from the front the skull is seen in norma frontalis, and viewed from the base it is seen in norma basilaris.