Intermaxillary Suture – Median Suture

The intermaxillary suture is a cranial suture which is located immediately underneath the anterior nasal spine in the middle of the right and left maxillary bones.

Intermaxillary suture is also known as median palatal suture or median suture. It is the fixed joint in the middle of the two palatine processes of the maxilla.

Intermaxillary Suture – Median Suture

Structure

The intermaxillary suture emerges on intraoral periapical X-ray image as a thin radiolucent line in the middle of the two parts of the premaxilla in the midline.

It spreads out from the alveolar crest in the middle of the central incisors superiorly via the anterior nasal spine and also proceeds posteriorly in the middle of the maxillary palatine processes towards the posterior part of the hard palate.

This narrow radiolucent suture commonly ends at the alveolar crest in a small curved or V-shaped expansion.

Borders

Two parallel radiopaque margins of thin cortical bone on both sides of the maxilla confine this suture. Generally, the radiolucent zone has constant width. The neighboring cortical borders can be either smooth or slightly irregular. The form of the intermaxillary suture is subject to both anatomic alterability and the angle of the x-ray beam across the suture.

Clinical Significance

Imaging

• In the middle of two portions of the maxilla, it appears as thin radiolucent line in the midline.
• Suture may terminate in a small rounded or V-shaped protrusion at the alveolus.
• On its own, it is nearly constant. Sometimes at the anterior end, there is funnel-shaped broadening to be found.