Video: Vomer

Hi there! It’s Matt from Kenhub, and in this tutorial, we will be discussing the vomer bone. The vomer is a singular bone that runs vertically within the nasal cavity separating the left and right sides. When the skull is completely assembled, it can only be seen through the nasal orifice anteriorly. This cranial structure runs caudally in an anterior and inferior direction so that from a lateral point of view, it looks like a diagonal rectangle, more commonly known as a plough. The entire bone is ossified by means of the intramembranous pathway.

The vomer is part of the nasal septum which follows the midline of the viscerocranium and creates the division between the two symmetrical sides of the nasal cavity. To be exact, the vomer forms the posterior inferior aspect of the septum in between the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid bone anterosuperiorly and the palatine bone posteroinferiorly. In addition, the maxilla links to the vomer anteriorly and inferiorly, the sphenoid bone posteriorly, and the nasal cartilage anteriorly.

The vomer articulates with the palatine, the maxilla, the ethmoid, and sphenoid bones. The posterior border, however, is not attached to any bones but soft tissue, making it one of the few bones of the skull which does not fully articulate to other bones.

This video is more fun than reading a textbook, right? If you want more videos, interactive quizzes, articles, and an atlas of human anatomy, click on the “Take me to Kenhub” button. It is time to say goodbye to your old textbooks and say hello to your new anatomy learning partner, Kenhub!

See you there!