Vomer

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Description:

The vomer, as its name suggests, resembles a plowshare. This small, thin, unpaired bone sits in the median plane and joins the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid bone to form the inferior part of the boney nasal septum. It has a flat, vertical, triangular blade-like process with horizontal posterosuperior projections resembling the handles of the plow. The base of its triangular bladelike portion is superior and posterior and it tapers anterior and inferior to its apex. Its transverse projecting superior border forms two alae that anchor to the base of the sphenoid bone. It has three articular borders, one nonarticular border, and two surfaces. The borders are superior, inferior, anterior, and posterior. The surfaces face laterally and form the lower, medial wall of the nasal cavities.