Anatomical and clinical considerations regarding the greater palatine foramen.

Objective: In this study, we mapped the topography of the greater palatine foramen (GPF), within the South-Eastern European population, according to clinically identifiable anatomical landmarks.

Materials And Methods: We used 100 dry adult human skulls, of which 75 were bilaterally dentate, whereas 25 were partially edentulous.

Results: The shape of the GPF was oval in 84% of the cases. The foramen was located internally from the third molar in 73% of the skulls. The greater palatine canal showed an antero-infero-medial direction in 82% of the cases. The average values of the distances between the GPF and the oral surfaces of the maxillary third molar, the medio-palatine suture, the posterior margin of the hard palate, the pterygoid hamulus and the pterygo-maxillary suture were 11.0 (SD 1.5), 14.5 (SD 0.8), 4.4 (SD 1.1), 12.0 (SD 1.8) and 10.5 mm (SD 1.3), respectively.

Conclusions: A thorough knowledge of GPF's various positions may assist the clinicians in providing improved surgical techniques in the area.