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This also supplies the tensor tympani muscle and the tensor veli palatini muscle. The medial pterygoid nerve is a main trunk from the mandibular nerve, before the division of the trigeminal nerve - this is unlike the lateral pterygoid muscle, and all other muscles of mastication which are supplied by the anterior division of the mandibular nerve.
Diagram showing left medial and lateral pterygoid muscles. Part of the zygomatic arch and the ramus of the mandible have been cut away. The pterygomandibular space lies between the lateral surface of medial pterygoid and the medial surface of the mandibular ramus.
Each lateral pterygoid muscle is composed of 2 heads, the upper or superior head and the lower or inferior head. The lower head originates from the lateral surface of the lateral pterygoid plate and inserts at a depression on the neck of mandibular condyle, just below the articular surface, termed the pterygoid fovea .
Dental trismus is caused by an injury to the masticatory muscles, such as opening the jaw for an extended period of time or having a needle pass through a muscle. Typical dental anesthesia for the lower jaw involves inserting a needle into or through a muscle. In these cases it is usually the medial pterygoid or the buccinator muscles.
In the head and neck, potential spaces are primarily defined by the complex attachment of muscles, especially mylohyoid, buccinator, masseter, medial pterygoid, superior constrictor and orbicularis oris. [6] Infections involving fascial spaces of the head and neck may give varying signs and symptoms depending upon the spaces involved.
The muscles of mastication (the temporalis muscle, masseter muscle, medial pterygoid muscle and lateral pterygoid muscle) are paired on either side and work together to move the mandible, which hinges and slides around its dual articulation with the skull at the temporomandibular joints. Some of the muscles work to elevate the mandible (close ...
The four classical muscles of mastication elevate the mandible (closing the jaw) and move it forward/backward and laterally, facilitating biting and chewing. Other muscles are responsible for opening the jaw, namely the geniohyoid, mylohyoid, and digastric muscles (the lateral pterygoid may play a role).
The lateral pterygoid plate of the sphenoid (or lateral lamina of pterygoid process) is broad, thin, and everted and forms the lateral part of a horseshoe like process that extends from the inferior aspect of the sphenoid bone, and serves as the origin of the lateral pterygoid muscle, which functions in allowing the mandible to move in a lateral and medial direction, or from side-to-side.