 Outline:

 Muscles of mastication:
-Masseter Muscle
- Temporalis Muscle
- Medial Pterygoid Muscle
- Lateral Pterygoid Muscle

 Temporomandibular joint

 Mandibular movements:
- Functional and Parafunctional
- Positions of mandibular movements
- Basic mandibular movements
 The muscles of mastication are four muscles which are involved
in the movement of the mandible, they include:
1) Masseter muscle

 Origin
- Zygomatic arch
 Insertion
- Outer surface of mandibular ramus
- Superficial fibers (part) run obliquely downward and posteriorly; deep fibers (part) vertically
 Nerve supply

- Branch from anterior division of the mandibular nerve

- The nerve enters the deep surface of muscle through the mandibular notch
 Action
- Elevation of mandible
- Protraction of mandible

2) Temporalis muscle

 Origin
- Temporal fossa
- Temporal fascia
 Insertion
- Coronoid process of mandible and anterior border of ramus
 Nerve Supply
- Anterior and posterior deep temporal branches of the anterior division of the mandibular
nerve that enter its deep surface
 Action

- Elevation of mandible
- Retraction of protruded mandible
3) Lateral Pterygoid muscle

 Origin

- Upper head rises from the infratemporal surface & infratemporal crest of greater wing of
sphenoid
- Lower head rises from the lateral surface of lateral pterygoid plate
 Insertion

- Pterygoid fovea
- Capsule & disc of temporomandibular joint

 Action

- Protraction & depression of mandible to open the mouth

Side-to-side movement of the mandible (chewing movement)

4) Medial pterygoid muscle

 Origin
- Superficial head arises from the tuberosity of maxilla
- Deep head arises from the medial surface of lateral pterygoid plate

 Insertion
- Into the rough area on the inner surface of mandibular ramus from mandibular foramen to
mandibular angle

 Nerve Supply
- Nerve to medial pterygoid from the trunk of mandibular nerve

 Action
- Protraction & elevation of mandible
- Side-to-side movement of the mandible (chewing movement)
 Fig 1.0

Fig 1.1
Temporomandibular Joint:

Fig 1.3

-The mandible articulates with the two temporal bones at

the temporomandibular joints (TMJs)
- The capsule is a fibrous membrane which encloses the TMJ and
adheres to the articular eminence, the articular disc, and the
condyle neck of the mandible
-The articular disk of the temporomandibular joint is composed
of fibrocartilagenous tissue, which divides each joint into:
inferior and superior compartment;

 Inferior compartment:

-Allows for the rotation of the Condylar head

-Corresponds to the 1st 20 mm of the opening of the
mouth (opening & closing movement)

 Superior compartment:
-Involved in translational movements
-Sliding the mandible forwards or moving it from side to
side

Fig 1.4
Mandibular Movements:

Functional & Parafunctional

The most basic classification for the movements of the
mandible is the functional and parafunctional classification.

Functional movements include: mastication, suckling,

swallowing, speech, yawning
Parafunctional movements include: clenching of the teeth,
bruxing, tongue thrusting, pen biting, etc.

Positions of mandibular movements:

- Intercuspal position “ICP”

- Rest position “RP”

- Protrusive position “PP”

- Incisal position “IP”

- Retruded Contact position “RCP”

- Maximum Opening position “MOP”

- Lateral position “LP”

Basic Mandibular Movements:
Opening & Closing movement:
- Condyle rotates and translates
- Center of rotation is located on the lingual side
- Condyle moves forward and downwards

Fig 1.5
Protrusive and Retrusive movement:
-The normal range of movement is between 8 and 10 mms
-Direct protrusion is accompanied with minimal amount of
opening to disocclude teeth
Role of anterior teeth:
- Normal protrusion is effected by translation of incisal
edges of lower anterior teeth along palatal surfaces
of upper anterior teeth.
- Movements of incisal edges of lower anterior teeth is
measured as an angle which is called the incisal
angle(45 degrees)

Fig 1.6
Lateral Movement:
Working Condyle:
- It moves slightly in lateral direction, this movement is
called Bennett Shift
- It rotates around a vertical axis to allow medial and
anterior movement of non working condyle
- It rotates around a saggital axis to allow downward
movement of non working condyle

Non Working Condyle:

- It moves forward, downward, and medial
- It moves forward and downward like in protrusion
- It moves medially, such movement is called lateral
Condylar angle which is around 15 degrees

Fig 1.7
References:
- "Anatomy of the temporomandibular joint" Volume 8 Issue 3, pages 170-183, June 2007,
Dr Xavier Alomar
- Peterson's principles of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Volume 2, Chapter 47, 2004, Dr
Michael Miloro
-  Illustrated Anatomy of the Head and Neck, Fehrenbach and Herring, Elsevier, 2012,
page 118
- “Mandibular Movements and the Temporomandibular Joint” Prof. Dr. Udo Stratmann,
International Medical College
- the United States National Library of Medicine-Medical Subject Headings(MeSH)

- Figures 1.1 - 1.7 “All photos are copyrighted material and all rights are
reserved to”:
thefacesurgeon.co.uk
oxfordjournals.org
web.duke.edu
juniordentist.com