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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 ...
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 muscles that power the jaw movements during chewing are known as the muscles of mastication or masticatory muscles, and are functionally classified as: [1] Jaw elevators: the masseter, temporalis, medial pterygoid and superior belly of the lateral pterygoid; Jaw depressors; the anterior digastrics, geniohyoid, mylohyoid and inferior belly ...
The coronoid head of the masseter's tendon and muscle fibers run posterolaterally from the coronoid process of the mandible towards the posterior third of the zygomatic arch. Its function is believed to be the retraction of the mandible and the stabilization of the mandibular coronoid process. [6] [7]
The sphenomandibularis is a muscle attaching to the sphenoid bone and the mandible. [1] [2] It is a muscle of mastication. [3]Unlike most of the muscles of the human body, which had been categorized several centuries ago, the sphenomandibularis was discovered in the mid-1990s at the University of Maryland at Baltimore.
The medial pterygoid muscle has functions including elevating the mandible (closing the mouth), protruding the mandible, mastication (especially for when the maxillary teeth and the mandibular teeth are close together), [1] and excursing the mandible (contralateral excursion occurs with unilateral contraction).
A concerted effort of the lateral pterygoid muscles helps in lowering the mandible and opening the jaw. Unilateral action of a lateral pterygoid muscle causes contralateral excursion (a form of mastication), usually performed in concert with the medial pterygoids. [citation needed] When they work independently, they can move the mandible side ...
Contraction of the lateral pterygoid acts to pull the disc and condyle forward within the glenoid fossa and down the articular eminence; thus, the action of this muscle serves to protrude the jaw, it with the assistance of gravity, and the digastricus muscle also opens the jaw. The other three muscles close the mouth; the masseter and the ...