The nasopalatine nerve is a branch of the maxillary nerve (V2) from the pterygopalatine ganglion. It traverses the sphenopalatine foramen, crosses the nasal roof, descends along the nasal septum, and passes through the incisive canal to supply the anterior hard palate, the mucoperiosteum of the palate behind the upper incisors, and the nasal septum overlying mucosa. It anastomoses with the greater palatine nerve.
The nasopalatine nerve is the target for the nasopalatine nerve block (incisive canal block), injected into the incisive papilla behind the upper central incisors to anaesthetise the anterior palate for dental procedures on the anterior maxillary teeth. A pea-sized cyst in the incisive canal (nasopalatine duct cyst, incisive canal cyst) arises from epithelial remnants of the nasopalatine duct and may cause anterior palatal swelling, displacement of the upper incisors, and nasopalatine nerve compression producing numbness of the anterior palate.
A developmental cyst arising from epithelial remnants within the incisive canal produces a midline anterior palatal swelling between the upper central incisors, visible as a heart-shaped radiolucency on periapical radiograph, causing numbness of the anterior palate from nasopalatine nerve compression and treated by surgical enucleation.
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