Upper Jaw Buttresses

Buttresses of the upper jaw (French: contre-force - opposing force) are thickenings of bone tissue in the lateral parts of the upper jaw. They serve to strengthen the jaw and counteract the chewing pressure transmitted to the upper jaw when chewing food.

The buttresses are located on the sides of the nasal cavity and go downwards along the alveolar process of the upper jaw. They start from the zygomatic processes of the upper jaw and end at the first premolars. Their task is to strengthen the lateral walls of the maxillary sinus and redirect chewing pressure down to the alveolar process.

Thus, the maxillary buttresses play an important role in distributing the mechanical load during mastication, providing strength to the maxillary structure. Their anatomical features must be taken into account when planning treatment and prosthetics.

The buttresses of the upper jaw are one or more vertical bones of the skull located between the upper border of the infratemporal fossa and part of the lower temporal bone, covering it from the side of the skull. They differ from the lateral walls of the brain region of the frontal part and the occipital part. They differ from the zygomatic arch by the presence of convexity and slight sharpening