The facial bones play a crucial role in protecting the brain, housing and safeguarding the sense organs of smell, sight, and taste, and providing a framework for the soft tissues of the face. This framework supports eating, facial expressions, breathing, and speech.
Here are some of the specific functions of facial bones:
- Protection: The facial bones help to protect the delicate organs of the face, such as the eyes, nose, and mouth. For example, the maxillary bones, which form the upper jaw, protect the teeth and the nasal cavity.
- Support: Facial bones provide a framework for the soft tissues of the face, giving it its characteristic shape. This framework is essential for chewing, speaking, and breathing.
- Sense organs: The facial bones house and protect the sense organs of smell, sight, and taste. The orbits, which are formed by the frontal, sphenoid, zygomatic, ethmoid, lacrimal, and palatine bones, protect the eyes. The nasal bones and the ethmoid bone form the nasal cavity, which houses the olfactory epithelium responsible for the sense of smell.
- Muscles: The facial bones provide attachment points for muscles that control facial expressions. These muscles allow us to smile, frown, and express a wide range of emotions.
The facial bones are connected to the skull by sutures, which are immobile joints. The only exception is the mandible, which is the lower jawbone, which is attached to the skull by a mobile joint called the temporomandibular joint.
