Muscles of Mastication
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Introduction and Overview[edit | edit source]
The muscles of mastication are group of muscles responsible for the chewing movement of the mandible at the temporomandibular joint, they augment the process of eating, they assist in grinding food, and also function to approximate the teeth.
The four main muscles of mastication originate from the surface of the skull and they insert onto the rami of the mandible.
The movement performed by these muscles are: elevation, depression, protrusion, retraction, and side to side movement.
Unlike the muscles of facial expression that are innervated by the facial nerve (CNVII), the muscles of mastication are innervated by motor braches of the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve (CNV3).
