The incisive papilla is an oval midline mucosal prominence of the anterior

hard palate The hard palate is a thin horizontal bony plate made up of two bones of the facial skeleton, located in the roof of the mouth. The bones are the palatine process of the maxilla and the horizontal plate of palatine bone. The hard palate spans ...

overlying the

incisive fossa In the human mouth, the incisive foramen (also known as: "''anterior palatine foramen''", or "''nasopalatine foramen''") is the opening of the incisive canals on the hard palate immediately behind the incisor teeth. It gives passage to blood vesse ...

. It is situated posteriorly to the central

incisors Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...

, and represents the anterior extremity of the

palatine raphe The palatine raphe (also median palatine raphe) is a raphe of the oral cavity. It is a narrow, slight midline ridge extending anteroposteriorly across the palate, from the incisive papilla anteriorly to the palatine uvula posteriorly. Beneath t ...

. The incisive papilla marks the position of the foetal nasopalatine canal.

Anatomy

Variation

Though generally referred to as round or oval in shape, the shape of the incisive papilla has been noted to vary in shape, its other potential shapes have been described as including: pear, spindle, flame, cylindrical, tapering, or dumb bell shaped.

Microanatomy

The incisive papilla consist of dense connective tissue. It is lined with simple or pseudostratified columnar epithelium, and is often keratinized.

Clinical significance

Pressure exerted upon the incisive papilla by maxillary dentures may cause pain or discomfort. The incisive papilla is utilized as an anatomical landmark when administering a nasopalatine

nerve block Nerve block or regional nerve blockade is any deliberate interruption of signals traveling along a nerve, often for the purpose of pain relief. #Local anesthetic nerve block, Local anesthetic nerve block (sometimes referred to as simply "nerve b ...

; the needle is inserted at a 45° angle just lateral to the incisive papilla.

References

External links