The Mandible

The mandible or lower jaw consists to four major portions, a left and right mandibular ramus and the left and right body. The alveolar process of the body is that portion of the mandible which contains the lower dentition. The junction of the ramus and the body occurs at the gonial angle where externally one of the masseter muscles is attatched. The left and right masseters make up a set of two sets of muscels used in chewing. At the gonial angle on the internal surface the pterygoid attachements are found. These attachements are for the medial and lateral pterygoid muscles which assist in the grinding motion of chewing. The external surface of the mandibular body possesses the mental foramen and at the midline, the mental protuberance or chin. The internal surface of the body possesses the lingual foramen, the mandibular canal, and the longitudinal running mylo-hyoid ridge. The genio tubercle is located in the mid-sagittal plane on the internal surface of the mandible. The superior margin of each ramus possesses both a mandibular condyle or head, for articulaltion with the temporal bone at the tempro-mandibular joint, and the coronoid process, for the attachement of the temporalis muscle (one in the set of primary muscles used in mastication). The mandible articulates with each of the maxillae by way of their contained respective lower and upper dentition.

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The mandible touches, or articulates with, the following bones:

• Temporals
• Maxillae