ABSTRACT
The head has one of the best blood supplies of any area of the body. It is richly supplied with vessels which comprise all the branches of the external carotid artery, which itself is a branch of the common carotid artery in the neck. The facial, lingual and maxillary arteries are the main branches which supply the face and mouth and they have many anastomosies (junctions), and therefore form a complex network of vessels around this area. The blood is drained from the area by veins which form a complex anastomosis of vessels, but drain via larger veins, accompanying the main arteries, into the jugular vein in the neck (Figure 7).
