Two of the masticatory muscles: the internal, or medial, pterygoid muscle and external, or lateral, pterygoid muscle. Action of the former is closing the jaws and that of the latter is opening the jaws, protruding the mandible, and moving the mandible from side to side.

Muscles arising in the zygomatic arch that close the jaw. Their nerve supply is masseteric from the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve. (From Stedman, 25th ed)

An articulation between the condyle of the mandible and the articular tubercle of the temporal bone.

A masticatory muscle whose action is closing the jaws; its posterior portion retracts the mandible.

A masticatory muscle whose action is closing the jaws.

Bony structure of the mouth that holds the teeth. It consists of the MANDIBLE and the MAXILLA.

A symptom complex consisting of pain, muscle tenderness, clicking in the joint, and limitation or alteration of mandibular movement. The symptoms are subjective and manifested primarily in the masticatory muscles rather than the temporomandibular joint itself. Etiologic factors are uncertain but include occlusal dysharmony and psychophysiologic factors.

The largest and strongest bone of the FACE constituting the lower jaw. It supports the lower teeth.

A branch of the trigeminal (5th cranial) nerve. The mandibular nerve carries motor fibers to the muscles of mastication and sensory fibers to the teeth and gingivae, the face in the region of the mandible, and parts of the dura.

The act and process of chewing and grinding food in the mouth.

An irregular unpaired bone situated at the SKULL BASE and wedged between the frontal, temporal, and occipital bones (FRONTAL BONE; TEMPORAL BONE; OCCIPITAL BONE). Sphenoid bone consists of a median body and three pairs of processes resembling a bat with spread wings. The body is hollowed out in its inferior to form two large cavities (SPHENOID SINUS).

Contractile tissue that produces movement in animals.