Cranial sutures
| Fibrous joint | |
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Fibrous joints
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| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | Articulatio fibrosa, junctura fibrosa |
| TA | A03.0.00.004 |
| FMA | 7492 |
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Anatomical terminology
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Fibrous joints are connected by dense connective tissue, consisting mainly of collagen. These are fixed joints where bones are united by a layer of white fibrous tissue of varying thickness. In the skull the joints between the bones are called sutures. Such immovable joints are also referred to as synarthroses.
Most fibrous joints are also called "fixed" or "immovable", because they do not move. These joints have no joint cavity and are connected via fibrous connective tissue.
The skull bones are connected by fibrous joints called sutures.In fetal skulls the sutures are wide to allow slight movement during birth. They later become rigid (synarthrodial).
Some of the long bones in the body such as the radius and ulna in the forearm are joined by a syndesmosis (along the interosseous membrane). Syndemoses are slightly moveable (amphiarthrodial). The distal tibiofibular joint is another example.
A gomphosis is a joint between the root of a tooth and the socket in the maxilla or mandible (jawbones).
A suture is a type of fibrous joint that is only found in the skull. The bones are bound together by Sharpey's fibres. A tiny amount of movement is permitted at sutures, which contributes to the compliance and elasticity of the skull. These joints are synarthroses. It is normal for many of the bones of the skull to remain unfused at birth. The fusion of the skull's bones at birth is known as craniosynostosis. The term "fontanelle" is used to describe the resulting "soft spots". The relative positions of the bones continue to change during the life of the adult (though less rapidly), which can provide useful information in forensics and archaeology. In old age, cranial sutures may ossify (turn to bone) completely. The joints between the teeth (gomphoses) and the joint between the mandible and the cranium, the temporomandibular joint, form the only non-sutured joints in the skull.
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