The vomer is the single facial bone.
Understanding the Facial Bones
The human face is a complex structure composed of multiple bones. These bones can be categorized into paired and unpaired bones. Paired bones appear in duplicate, one on each side of the face. Unpaired bones, however, are present as a single structure.
According to Kenhub, the facial bones (also known as the viscerocranium) consist of 14 bones in total. These are categorized as follows:
- Paired Bones: Inferior nasal concha, nasal bone, maxilla, palatine bone, lacrimal bone, zygomatic bone.
- Unpaired Bones: Mandible, vomer.
While many sources mention the mandible, the question specifically asks about facial bones. The mandible, though a significant bone in the facial region, is functionally associated with the jaw and is often considered separately from the other facial bones that form the facial structure itself. Therefore, the vomer, a thin, flat bone forming part of the nasal septum, is the only unpaired bone strictly within the facial bone structure.
Numerous medical publications, such as those found on PubMed, referencing single implant procedures in the maxillary anterior region (example 1, example 2, example 3), indirectly support the understanding of multiple paired bones in the maxilla. These studies focus on the impact of single implants on surrounding bone, reinforcing the concept that many facial bones exist in pairs.
In contrast, sources that discuss skull anatomy, such as Lumen Learning, might mention the frontal bone as a single bone of the skull, but this is not strictly a facial bone in the same way the others listed are.
