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The parotid plexus or plexus parotideus is the branch point of the facial nerve (extratemporal) after it leaves the stylomastoid foramen. This division takes place within the parotid gland . Branches
The facial nerve, also known as the seventh cranial nerve, cranial nerve VII, or simply CN VII, is a cranial nerve that emerges from the pons of the brainstem, controls the muscles of facial expression, and functions in the conveyance of taste sensations from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue.
Receives taste from the posterior 1/3 of the tongue, provides secretomotor innervation to the parotid gland, and provides motor innervation to the stylopharyngeus. Some sensation is also relayed to the brain from the palatine tonsils. This nerve is involved together with the vagus nerve in the gag reflex. X Vagus: Both sensory and motor
The 42nd edition of Gray's Anatomy (2020) describes a parotid-masseteric fascia as a thin and translucent yet tough fascia that covers the parotid duct, buccal branches of facial nerve (CN VII), and branches of the mandibular nerve where these structures lie upon the surface of the masseter muscle.
Thus the facial artery can be used as an important landmark in locating the marginal mandibular nerve during surgical procedures. [2] Damage can cause paralysis of the three muscles it supplies, which can cause an asymmetrical smile due to lack of contraction of the depressor labii inferioris muscle . [ 3 ]
The superficial branches run beneath the skin and above the superficial muscles of the face, which they supply: some are distributed to the procerus, joining at the medial angle of the orbit with the infratrochlear and nasociliary branches of the ophthalmic.
The digastric branch of facial nerve provides motor innervation to the posterior belly of the digastric muscle. [1] [2] It branches from the facial nerve (CN VII) near to the stylomastoid foramen [1] as the CN VII exits the facial canal (it thus branches proximal to the parotid plexus of facial nerve). [2]
The facial nerve passes through the parotid so may be affected if there is a change in the parotid gland. Facial nerve paralysis in a previously untreated patient usually indicates that a tumour is malignant.