Maxillary prominence


 * For the cranial structure, see Maxillary process of inferior nasal concha.

Continuous with the dorsal end of the mandibular arch, and growing forward from its cephalic border, is a triangular process, the maxillary process (or maxillary prominence), the ventral extremity of which is separated from the mandibular arch by a ">"-shaped notch.

The maxillary process forms the lateral wall and floor of the orbit, and in it are ossified the zygomatic bone and the greater part of the maxilla; it meets with the lateral nasal process, from which, however, it is separated for a time by a groove, the naso-optic furrow, that extends from the furrow encircling the eyeball to the olfactory pit.

The maxillary processes ultimately fuse with the lateral nasal and globular processes, and form the lateral parts of the upper lip and the posterior boundaries of the nares.