Mandible Landmarks Flashcards
What marks the midline of the mandible?
the mental symphysis - where the 2 parts of the mandible come together and ossify
What is the mental protuberance?
The triangular prominence of the skin
What are the mental tubercles?
The lower angles of the mental protuberance
What attaches in the incisive fossa, and where is it located?
Mentalis muscle attaches in incisive fossa, it is the depression between the mandibular incisors
What is the canine eminence?
Little bump part under the canine because the canine has a long root
What passes through the mental foramen?
The mental nerve and vessels - important for dentistry
What is the thickest part of the mandible?
The external oblique line
What is the buccal shelf?
The flattened area lateral to the mandibular molars
What is the significance of the buccal shelf?
It is the site of the long buccal nerve block; it is the flattened area between external oblique line and the teeth
What is the coronoid notch?
The concavity of the anterior border of the ramus, it is the thumb position spot during an inferior alveolar nerve block
What attaches to the coronoid process?
The temporalis muscle
What is the premasteric notch?
The concavity on the lower border of the mandible, where the facial artery crosses
Where does the masseter attach?
To the lateral aspect of the ramus; covers the entire lateral surface of the ramus
What is the condylar process of the mandible?
The neck and condyle of the mandible; articulation with the temporomandibular joint
What is the condyle?
The actual articular surface of the mandible; it is convex anterior to posterior and medial to lateral; things attach at the medial and lateral poles
Neck of the mandible
Narrow part
What is the masseteric notch? (same thing as sigmoid or mandibular notch)
Nerves and vessels to the masseter pass OVER this notch, it is the superior border of the ramus
What inserts to the pterygoid fossa, and where is it located?
Pterygoid fossa, it is located just below the condyle of the mandible
What is the temporal crest?
Ridge on the inner surface of the ramus, insertion of the temporalis muscle
What is the lingula, and what attaches here?
It is the point that is just anterior to the mandibular foramen. The sphenomandibular ligament attaches here
What transmits through the mandibular foramen?
The inferior alveolar nerve and vessels
What lies in the mylohyoid groove
Mylohyoid nerve
What inserts on the pterygoid tubercles?
The medial pterygoid muscle
What is the mandibular canal
it is a canal inside the bone for the inferior alveolar nerve and vessels
It is not a regular canal, but it will look like a tube on an x-ray
What is the origin of the mylohyoid muscle?
The mylohyoid line of the mandible
Where does the submandibular gland lay against the mandible?
In the submandibular fossa which is inferior to the posterior part of the mylohyoid
Where is the sublingual fossa?
Superior to the mylohyoid, basically right under the incisors on the lingual aspect
What is the lingual tuberosity?
The bone that lies over the root of the most posterior molar, this is also the most medial part of the mandible. The lingual nerve lies against the bone here
Where will the inferior half of the geniohyoid and the superior half of the genioglossus attach?
Mental spines
What is the digastric fossa?
Attachment of the anterior digastric belly to the inferior border of the mandible
What is the foramen that is associated with mental spines for nutrient artery? It is not an anatomical foramen, it is a radiologic landmark
Lingual foramen
What is the triangle shape behind the last molar, and what attaches to its apex?
The retromolar trigone, and the pterygomandibular raphe attaches to this apex
What happens to the alveolar ridge with the loss of teeth?
The alveolar ridge will resorb
What problem will the loss of the alveolar bone cause for dentistry?
Losing the alveolar bone will change the relative position of the mental foramen and the location of the muscle attachments relative to the ridge
Which way do the coronoid processes flare?
Laterally, for the attachment of the temporalis
Because the dental arch is more narrow than the arch of the mandible, the dental arch will over hang what landmark?
The dental arch will overhang the submandibular fossa, and the molars are more medial than the bone
In what direction are the condyles angled?
Posteriorly and medially
Where do the axes through the condylar poles intersect when the mandible is extended?
The axes through the condylar poles intersect at the foramen magnum
What is the most common fracture of the mandible?
A bilateral fracture of the body of the mandible
This will occur anterior to the trihedral eminence because the trihedral eminence is the widest and strongest part of the mandible
When you have 1 fracture, you will most likely have 2 although the fractures wont always be at the same spot in both sides
