Deep facial osteology as revealed by coronal sections of the dried skull.

An understanding of the bony framework and relationships of the face is essential to the facial reconstructor. A dried human skull was immersed in a hardening agent to preserve the ethmoidal labyrinth and then cut in the coronal plane to produce six sections. The anterior and posterior surface of each section was photographed and landmarks were labeled. Since the thick anterior bony structures were removed with the first slice, the normal delicate laminae of the deep face, within the deeper sections, were exposed for study.