Mandible - Anatomy
The Mandible is the largest and strongest bone of the face! This bone is also known as the lower jaw and it articulates dentally with the upper jaw or the maxilla in the viscerocranium via the teeth when the mouth is closed. A single horse shoe shaped bone. It is the moving part of the jaws when the you are eating and for that reason all the muscles of mastication including the medial and lateral pterygoid muscles, the temporal muscle and the masseter muscle Instagram @rev.med The mandible is marked by two foramina. The mandibular foramen is located on the internal surface of the ramus of the mandible. It serves as a conduit for the inferior alveolar nerve and inferior alveolar artery. They travel through the mandibular foramen, into the mandibular canal, and exit at the mental foramen. The mental foramen is positioned on the external surface of the mandibular body. It allows the inferior alveolar nerve and artery to exit the mandibular canal. When the inferior alveolar nerve passes through the mental foramen, it becomes the mental nerve (innervates the skin of the lower lip and the front of the chin). Check out our video on ‘The arteries of the Stomach’. It’s a great review and it’ll be easy to draw along and learn the pathways. Be sure to check it out and subscribe to our channel on YouTube! (Link in bio)