fontanel

     

A fontanelle's (or fontaneel) is an anatomical feature on an infant's skull. Fontanelles are soft spots on a baby's hea which, during birth, enable the bony plates of the skull to flex, allowing the child's head to pass through the birth canal. The ossification of the bones of the skull cause the fontanelles to close over by a child's second birthday. The closures eventually form the sutures of the neurocranium. Although there are the two anterior and posterior fontanelles, there are two more fontanelles of interest, the mastoid fontanelle, and the sphenoidal fontanelle.

Trivia about fontanel

  • It's the term for the "soft spot" on the surface of a newborn's head where the skull bones haven't fused yet

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