The upper jaw
Maxilla · maxilla
The bone that holds your upper teeth and forms the middle of your face.
What it does
The two maxillae fuse to form your upper jaw. They hold the upper teeth, make up most of the roof of your mouth and the floor of your eye sockets, and contain the large maxillary sinuses. Unlike the lower jaw, the upper jaw doesn't move.
Surprising fact
The maxillary sinus is the largest air space in the skull, and the roots of the upper back teeth sometimes poke right into it.
Why it matters
Because those tooth roots sit so close to the sinus, a sinus infection can feel like toothache in your upper back teeth, and a tooth infection can spread into the sinus.
Nearby
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Open in the 3D atlas · Suggest a correction · Not medical advice.
3D models: Z-Anatomy & BodyParts3D (CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2.1 JP). Card text CC BY 4.0.