ABSTRACT
There are many muscles in the head and neck; however, only a few of these have relevance to dentistry. The muscles of mastication are a group of muscles which control jaw movement. The largest in size and number are those which close the jaw giving power to the bite. These include the temporalis muscle, which is a large muscle attached to the side of the skull passing downwards to its insertion on the coronoid process of the mandible previously described. In addition, two other powerful muscles take origin from the base of the skull and the rear portion of the cheek bone, and these pass down on each side of the mandible and are attached over a large area around the angle of the mandible. These are, on the outer side, the masseter and, on the inner side, the medial pterygoid.
