the emergency physician should conduct a thorough examination of the oral tissues . a laceration in the palate can be easily missed and should be elicited . guerin 's sign is bruising in the palate in the region of the greater palatine arteries . we present a patient who sustained blunt facial trauma and as a result had a mobile maxilla and a severe malocclusion . this is a reminder to clinicians , especially those working in acute medicine to conduct thorough examination of the oral tissues . a laceration in the palate can be easily missed and should be looked for as part of a systematic examination .
key clinical messagefacial trauma is common . 
 the emergency physician should conduct a thorough examination of the oral tissues . 
 a laceration in the palate can be easily missed and should be elicited . 
 failure to identify a split palate can result in severe dentofacial deformity .