Mucosal perforators from the facial artery

The cutaneous perforators of the facial artery have been well described, but to our knowledge the oral mucosal perforators have not. We studied 10 facial arteries from 10 hemifaces in 5 cadavers. The arteries were injected with latex, and we studied all perforators that extended from the facial artery and headed directly to the oral mucosa. The diameter and length of the facial artery and its mucosal perforators were measured and compared. We found 52 oral mucosal perforators in the 10 facial arteries injected with latex. Their mean (SD) diameter was 0.5 (0.2) mm and the mean (SD) number/facial artery was 5.2 (1.1). Their mean (SD) length was 16.4 (5.3) mm. Most of those to the cheek were localised between the branching-off points of the inferior and superior labial arteries. The facial artery has perforators to the oral mucosa of the cheek, most of them between the points at which the labial arteries emerge.