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In humans, the mandible, or lower jaw, is connected to the temporal bone of the skull via the temporomandibular joint. This is an extremely complex joint which permits movement in all planes. The muscles of mastication originate on the skull and insert into the mandible, thereby allowing for jaw movements during contraction.
The orbicularis oris is not a simple sphincter muscle like the orbicularis oculi; it consists of numerous strata of muscular fibers surrounding the orifice of the mouth, but having different direction. It consists partly of fibers derived from the other facial muscles which are inserted into the lips, and partly of fibers proper to the lips.
The facial muscles are just under the skin (subcutaneous) muscles that control facial expression. They generally originate from the surface of the skull bone (rarely the fascia), and insert on the skin of the face. When they contract, the skin moves. These muscles also cause wrinkles at right angles to the muscles’ action line. [2]
Inverse Marcus Gunn phenomenon is a rare condition [5] that causes the eyelid to fall upon opening of the mouth. In this case, trigeminal innervation to the pterygoid muscles of the jaw is associated with an inhibition of the branch of the oculomotor nerve to the levator palpebrae superioris, as opposed to stimulation in Marcus Gunn jaw-winking.
The procerus muscles pull the skin into horizontal wrinkles. The frontalis muscle, which runs from the upper forehead, halfway between the coronal suture (which traverses the top of the skull) and the top edge of the orbit, attaches to the eyebrow skin. Since it pulls the eyebrows upward, it is the antagonist of the orbicularis oculi.
The jaw elevator muscles develop the main forces used in mastication. The force generated during routine mastication of food such as carrots or meat is about 70 to 150 newtons (16 to 34 lbf ). The maximum masticatory force in some people may reach up to 500 to 700 newtons (110 to 160 lbf ).
The temporalis muscle is covered by the temporal fascia, also known as the temporal aponeurosis. This fascia is commonly used in tympanoplasty, or surgical reconstruction of the eardrum. The temporalis muscle is accessible on the temples, and can be seen and felt contracting while the jaw is clenching and unclenching.
There are no precise histological boundaries because the modiolus is an irregular zone where dense, compact, interlacing tissue grades into the stems of individually recognizable muscles. It is contributed to by at least nine muscles: orbicularis oris , buccinator , levator anguli oris , depressor anguli oris , zygomaticus major , zygomaticus ...