Maxilla
 Facial bones, anterior (maxilla is the midface block)
| |
| Field | Anatomy |
|---|---|
| Also known as | upper jaw, midface bone
|
The maxilla is the paired midface bone: nose base, upper teeth, most of the orbit floor, and the front of the hard palate. Looksmaxxing “maxilla” talk is almost always projection and width — a recessed maxilla reads as a long philtrum, a hanging alar base, flat cheeks, and a nose that looks bigger than it is.
It is not the mandible. Bimaxillary osteotomy moves both.
What sits on it
- Piriform aperture (nose hole)
- Anterior nasal spine
- Alveolar process (teeth)
- Palatine process — meets its twin at the midpalatal suture
- Zygomatic process — toward the cheek
- Infraorbital foramen and orbital floor
Scene metrics
A “compact midface” is often a short vertical maxilla plus good projection. Width is bizygomatic more than the maxilla alone. Palate expansion tries to split the midpalatal suture; adult cases are orthodontic/surgical, not a TikTok screw.
Gallery
-
Anterior facial skeleton -
Gray 160 — maxilla -
Gray 167 — palatine articulated with maxilla -
Gray 196 — nasal cavity (maxilla is the floor)
Images from Wikimedia Commons via InstantCommons.
See also
References
Anatomy condensed from standard craniofacial descriptions (CC BY-SA Wikipedia Maxilla, retrieved 2026-09-10).