Development of the Face
and Oral CavityDevelopment of the Face
The development of the face occurs mainly between 4 8
weeks
The lower jaw (mandible) is the first to form (4th week)
The facial proportions develop during the fetal period (9th
week to birth)
Early in the 4th week, five primordial swellings
(prominences) consisting primarily of neural crest-
derived mesenchyme appear around the stomodeum
and play an important role in the development of face
1 Frontonasal
prominence
2 Maxillary
prominences
Stomodeum
stomodeum
2 Mandibular
prominences
The five prominences are:
The single frontonasal
prominence ventral to the
forebrain
The paired maxillary
prominences develop
from the cranial part of
first pharyngeal arch
The paired mandibular
prominences develop
from the caudal part of
first pharyngeal arch
Lateral view
Stomodeum
An ectoderm lined depression
Separated from the primitive pharynx by the
buccopharyngeal (oropharyngeal) membrane
The membrane later breaks down and stomodeum
opens into the pharynx
By the end of 4th week,
bilateral oval-shaped
ectodermal thickenings
called nasal placodes
appear on each side of
the lower part of the
frontonasal prominence
Nasal placodes are
primordia of the nose
and nasal cavities.
Frontonasal
prominence
Mesenchymal cells
proliferate at the margin of
the placodes and produce
horse-shoe shaped
swellings around these.
The sides of these
swellings are called medial
and lateral nasal
prominences
The placodes now lie in the
floor of a depression called
nasal pits
Embryo: 6
weeks
Each lateral nasal prominence is separated from the maxillary swelling by nasolacrimal groove.
NASOLACRIMAL DUCT
connects -Develops as solid cord
anterior eye to from medial angle of eye
nasal cavity to nasal cavity
- becomes canalized.
The maxillary prominences
continue to increase in size
and:
Laterally, merge with the
mandibular prominences to
form the cheek
Medially, compress the
medial nasal prominences
toward the midline and finally
fuses with these to form the
upper lip.
The upper lip is formed by the two medial nasal
prominences & the two maxillary prominences
The point of contact of
the epithelial covered
medial nasal and
maxillary processes is
termed the nasal fin.
This vertically
positioned epithelial
sheet under each
nostril separates the
medial nasal and
maxillary processes;
and when the fin
disappears, the lip will
fuse.
The medial nasal swellings
enlarge, grow medially and
merge with each other in
the midline to form the
intermaxillary segment.
Intermaxillary Segment
Gives rise to the:
Philtrum of lip
Premaxillary part of
the maxilla, that
bears the upper 4
incisors and the
associated gums
Primary palate
(region of hard palate
just posterior to the
upper incisors)
The mesenchyme from
the 1st & 2nd pairs of
pharyngeal arches
invade the facial
prominences and give
rise to the muscles of
mastication and
muscles of facial
expression respectively
Besides the fleshy derivatives, the facial
prominences also give rise to bones of the
facial skeleton
Derivatives of Facial Components
The frontonasal
prominence forms the:
Forehead and the
bridge of the nose
Frontal and nasal bones
The maxillary prominences form the:
Upper cheek regions and most of the upper lip
Maxilla, zygomatic bone, secondary palate
The mandibular
prominences fuse and
form the:
Chin, lower lip, and
lower cheek regions
Mandible
The lateral nasal prominences form the alae of the
nose
The medial nasal prominences fuse and form the
the crest and tip of nose and intermaxillary segment
Development of the Nasal
Cavity
By the end of 4th week,
bilateral oval-shaped
ectodermal thickenings
called nasal placodes
appear on each side of
the lower part of the
frontonasal prominence
Nasal
placo
de
Nasal
placo
de
Frontonasal
prominence
Nasal placodes are
primordia of the nose
and nasal cavities.
With the formation of the
medial and lateral nasal
prominences, the nasal
placodes lie in the floor
of depressions called
the nasal pits
By the end of 6th week,
nasal pits deepen and
form nasal sacs
Each nasal sac grows
dorsocaudally, ventral to
the developing brain
Initially the nasal
sacs are separated
from the oral cavity
by oronasal
membrane.
The oronasal
membrane ruptures
by the 7th week,
communicating the
primitive nasal
cavities with the oral
cavity
These cavities are
called the primitive
choanae and are
located posterior to the
primary palate
After the development
of the secondary palate,
the choanae change
their position and
become located at the
junction of nasal cavity
and the pharynx
The nasal septum
develops as a
downgrowth from the
internal parts of
merged medial nasal
prominences
Fuses with the
palatine process in 9-
12 weeks, superior to
the hard palate
primordium
SUMMARY OF STRUCTURES
CONTRIBUTING TO FORMATION
OF THE FACE
PROMINENCE
Frontonasal*
Maxillary
Medial nasal
Lateral nasal
Mandibular
STRUCTURES FORMED
Forehead, bridge of nose, medial
and lateral nasal prominences
Cheeks, lateral portion of upper lip
Philtrum of upper lip, crest & tip of
nose
Alae of nose
Lower lip
EMBRYONIC
STRUCTURES
Stomodeum
ORIGIN
FUTURE TISSUES
Ectodermal depression enlarged by
disintegration of oropharyngeal Oral cavity proper
membrane
EMBRYONIC
STRUCTURES
ORIGIN
Ectodermal
depression
enlarged by
disintegration of
oropharyngeal
membrane
FUTURE
TISSUES
Mandibular arch (first
branchial arch)
Fused mandibular processes
and neural crest cells
Stomodeum
Mandibular arch
(first branchial
arch)
Fused mandibular
processes and
neural crest cells
Oral cavity proper
Lower lip, lower face, mandible
with associated tissues
Mid face, upper lip sides, cheeks,
secondary palate, posterior part of
maxilla with associated tissues,
zygomatic bones, part of temporal
bones
Medial and lateral nasal processes
Nasal cavities
Lower lip, lower
face, mandible
with associated
tissues (other arch
derivatives shown
in Table 4-2)
Maxillary process(es)
Superior and anterior swelling(s)
from mandibular arch and neural
crest cells
Maxillary
process(es)
Frontonasal
process
Nasal pits
Ectodermal tissue
and neural crest
cells
Nasal placodes
Midface, upper lip
sides, cheeks,
Superior andsecondary palate,
anterior swelling(s) posterior part of
from mandibularmaxilla with
arch and neuralassociated tissues,
crest cellszygomatic bones,
part of temporal
bones
Medial and lateral
nasal processes
Nasal cavities
Frontonasal process
Nasal pits
Medial nasal process(es)
Intermaxillary segment
Lateral nasal
process(es)
Ectodermal tissue and neural crest
cells
Nasal placodes
Medial nasal
process(es)
Frontonasal
process medial to
nasal pits
Middle of nose,
philtrum region,
intermaxillary
segment
Intermaxillary
segment
Fused medial
nasal processes
Anterior part of
maxilla with
associated tissues,
primary palate,
nasal septum
Nasal alae
Frontonasal process medial to nasal Middle of nose, philtrum region,
Pits intermaxillary segment
Lateral nasal
process(es)
Frontonasal
process lateral to
nasal pits
Fused medial nasal processes
Anterior part of maxilla with
associated tissues, primary palate,
nasal septum
Frontonasal process lateral to nasal
Nasal alae
pits