ABSTRACT
The cranioskeleton is composed of numerous bones which interdigitate primarily through sutures. The mandible is the one bone of the head which functions through two bilaterally situated joints, the temporomandibular joints. The position and velocity of movement of the mandible are determined by a complex set of functional parameters. The position of the mandible is determined by the properties of the soft tissue which envelopes the mandible, particularly the ligaments and muscles, the structure of the temporomandibular joint, and the neuromuscular system. The neuromuscular system, which is important to determining the mandibular position, includes multiple sensory inputs from visual, vestibular, dental/peridontal, muscular, and temporomandibular joints. The neuromuscular system also includes cen trally controlled pathways of oral function that must: (1) maintain a patent upper respiratory pathway dependent on mandibular and tongue position; (2) stabilize the mandible during pharyngeal swallowing in which the hyoid complex moves while the mandible serves as a support for suprahyoid muscles; (3) precisely move the mandible in assisting the articulators of speech such as the lips and tongue; and (4) guide the mandible to provide the force needed to bite food and crush the bolus using multiple joint-like structures in the form of dentition.
