Oral Mucosa 5

Hard palate

The hard palate in the mid-line is a typical masticatory mucosa with a keratinised epithelium and long thin epithelial ridges/dermal papillae and no sub mucosa - the lamina propria is dense and attaches directly to the overlying bone. Its structure is very similar to the gingiva.  Laterally and posteriorly (where it merges with the soft palate) it has a prominent sub mucosa (not visible on this slide) and the epithelial ridges become less  pronounced..