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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 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 ).
In anatomy, the masseter [help 1] is one of the muscles of mastication. Found only in mammals, it is particularly powerful in herbivores to facilitate chewing of plant matter. [5] The most obvious muscle of mastication is the masseter muscle, since it is the most superficial and one of the strongest.
The mandibular nerve gives off four nerves to the four muscles of mastication in the infratemporal fossa. These are the masseteric nerve to masseter muscle, the deep temporal nerve to temporalis muscle, the lateral pterygoid nerve to lateral pterygoid muscle, and the medial pterygoid nerve to medial pterygoid muscle.
the lateral pterygoid muscle superiorly; the inferior border of the mandible (lingual surface) inferiorly; the medial pterygoid muscle medially (the space is superficial to medial pterygoid) the ascending ramus of the mandible laterally (the space is deep to the ramus of the mandible)
The lateral pterygoid muscle (or external pterygoid muscle) is a muscle of mastication. It has two heads. It lies superior to the medial pterygoid muscle. It is supplied by pterygoid branches of the maxillary artery, and the lateral pterygoid nerve (from the mandibular nerve, CN V 3). It depresses and protrudes the mandible. When each muscle ...
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.
The mylohyoid muscle originates from the anterior (front) part of the mylohyoid line. [1] Rarely, the mylohyoid muscle may originate partially from other surfaces of the mandible. [ 2 ] The posterior (back) part of this line, near the alveolar margin , gives attachment to a small part of the superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle , and to the ...