The hard palate is one of the parts of the palate, the other being the soft palate. The hard palate is formed by the palatine processes of the maxillae and the horizontal plates of the palatine bones. It is bounded by the alveolar arches, and behind it is continuous with the soft palate. It forms the floor of the nasal cavities.

 

The undersurface of the hard palate is covered with mucoperiosteum and possesses a median ridge, on either side of the mucous membrane shows corrugation. The mucous membrane is covered by stratified by squamous epithelium and possesses numerous mucous glands in its posterior part.

 

The palatine aponeurosis is a fibrous sheet attached to the posterior border of the hard palate. It is the expanded tendon of the tensor veli palatini, and it splits to enclose the musculus uvulae.