Hard palate and retropalatal space in adult Japanese dry skulls.

This is a basic study designed to elucidate the correlation between the lengths of the hard palate and retropalatal space. We also measured the mean lengths of the hard palate and the retropalatal space, emphasizing on measuring the mean proportional lengths of the hard palate and retropalatal space in relation to the total lengths of these two. This osteometric study was done on 89 adult Japanese dry skulls involving, the measurement of five linear dimensions including two modified dimensions. The lengths of the hard palate had a statistically significant correlation with the retropalatal space length. Clinical significance of this study is that, it will be advantageous for the better assessment of the bony anatomy of palatal inadequacy patients, with speech problems, resulting from abnormalities in the palate and the velopharyngeal port. This study also reports a new term "RETROPALATAL SPACE" to represent the gap in the base of dry skulls between the posterior border of the hard palate and the anterior margin of the for-a men magnum.