The buccinator () is a thin quadrilateral muscle occupying the interval between the

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. T ...

and the

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

at the side of the face. It forms the anterior part of the cheek or the lateral wall of the oral cavity.Illustrated Anatomy of the Head and Neck, Fehrenbach and Herring, Elsevier, 2012, page 91

Structure

It arises from the outer surfaces of the

alveolar processes The alveolar process () or alveolar bone is the thickened ridge of bone that contains the tooth sockets on the jaw bones (in humans, the maxilla and the mandible). The structures are covered by gums as part of the oral cavity. The synonymous te ...

of the maxilla and

, corresponding to the three pairs of

molar teeth The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone t ...

and in the mandible, it is attached upon the buccinator crest posterior to the

third molar A third molar, commonly called wisdom tooth, is one of the three molars per quadrant of the human dentition. It is the most posterior of the three. The age at which wisdom teeth come through ( erupt) is variable, but this generally occurs betw ...

; and behind, from the anterior border of the

pterygomandibular raphe The pterygomandibular raphe (pterygomandibular ligament) is a ligamentous band of the buccopharyngeal fascia. It is attached superiorly to the pterygoid hamulus of the medial pterygoid plate, and inferiorly to the posterior end of the mylohyoi ...

which separates it from the

constrictor pharyngis superior The superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle is a muscle in the pharynx. It is the highest located muscle of the three pharyngeal constrictors. The muscle is a quadrilateral muscle, thinner and paler than the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle ...

. The fibers converge toward the angle of the mouth, where the central fibers intersect each other, those from below being continuous with the upper segment of the

orbicularis oris In human anatomy, the orbicularis oris muscle is a complex of muscles in the lips that encircles the mouth. It is a sphincter, or circular muscle, but it is actually composed of four independent quadrants that interlace and give only an appearance ...

, and those from above with the lower segment; the upper and lower fibers are continued forward into the corresponding

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

without decussation.

Innervation

Motor innervation is from the buccal branch of the

facial nerve The facial nerve, also known as the seventh cranial nerve, cranial nerve VII, or simply CN VII, is a cranial nerve that emerges from the pons of the brainstem, controls the muscles of facial expression, and functions in the conveyance of taste ...

(cranial nerve VII). Sensory innervation is supplied by the buccal branch (one of the muscular branches) of the mandibular part of the trigeminal (cranial nerve V).Grant's Dissector, Fourteenth Edition, page 204

Function

Its purpose is to pull back the angle of the mouth and to flatten the cheek area, which aids in holding the cheek to the teeth during chewing. This action causes the muscle to keep food pushed back on the occlusal surface of the posterior teeth, as when a person chews. By keeping the food in the correct position when chewing, the buccinator assists the muscles of mastication. It aids

whistling Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...

and

smiling A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses ...

, and in

neonates An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

it is used to suckle.

Structures piercing the buccinator

Parotid The parotid gland is a major salivary gland in many animals. In humans, the two parotid glands are present on either side of the mouth and in front of both ears. They are the largest of the salivary glands. Each parotid is wrapped around the ma ...

duct (

Stenson's duct The parotid duct, or Stensen duct, is a salivary duct. It is the route that saliva takes from the major salivary gland, the parotid gland, into the mouth. Structure The parotid duct is formed when several interlobular ducts, the largest ducts insi ...

) #Molar glands of cheeks #Buccal branch of mandibular nerve

Etymology

In the past the buccinator muscle was also written as bucinator muscle. A ''bucinator'' in

classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later period ...

is a trumpeter,Lewis, C.T. & Short, C. (1879). ''A Latin dictionary founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin dictionary.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press. or more precisely, the person who blows the ''

bucina A buccina ( lat, buccina) or bucina ( lat, būcina, link=no), anglicized buccin or bucine, is a brass instrument that was used in the ancient Roman army, similar to the cornu. An '' aeneator'' who blew a buccina was called a "buccinator" or "buc ...

''. The name ''bucina'' could refer in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

antiquity to a crooked horn or trumpet, a shepherd's horn or a war-trumpet. Despite its similarity to the classical Latin name for cheek, i.e. bucca, the words ''bucinator'', ''bucina'', and ''bucinere'' (to blow the bucina) are not related to ''bucca'',Stieve, H. (1949). ''Nomina Anatomica. Zusammengestellt von der im Jahre 1923 gewählten Nomenklatur-Kommission, unter Berücksichtigung der Vorschläge der Mitglieder der Anatomischen Gesellschaft, der Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, sowie der American Association of Anatomists, überprüft und durch Beschluß der Anatomischen Gesellschaft auf der Tagung in Jena 1935 endgúltig angenommen.'' (4th edition). Jena: Verlag Gustav Fischer. hence some disapproved the spelling ''buccinator''. Although the name ''bucinator'' is not derived from ''bucca'', this muscle is also called ''musculus buccae'' Schreger, C.H.Th.(1805). ''Synonymia anatomica. Synonymik der anatomischen Nomenclatur.'' Fürth: im Bureau für Literatur. or ''musculus buccalis'' in Latin and muscle of the cheek in English. The most recent official Latin anatomic nomenclature (''

Terminologia Anatomica ''Terminologia Anatomica'' is the international standard for human anatomical terminology. It is developed by the Federative International Programme on Anatomical Terminology, a program of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomi ...

''),Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology (FCAT) (1998). ''Terminologia Anatomica''. Stuttgart: Thieme and preceding editions (''

Nomina Anatomica ''Nomina Anatomica'' (''NA'') was the international standard on human anatomic terminology from 1895 until it was replaced by ''Terminologia Anatomica'' in 1998. In the late nineteenth century some 30,000 terms for various body parts were in use ...

'')International Anatomical Nomenclature Committee (1966). ''Nomina Anatomica''. Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica Foundation.International Anatomical Nomenclature Committee (1977). ''Nomina Anatomica, together with Nomina Histologica and Nomina Embryologica''. Amsterdam-Oxford: Excerpta Med International Anatomical Nomenclature Committee (1983). ''Nomina Anatomica, together with Nomina Histologica and Nomina Embryologica''. Baltimore/London: Williams & WilkinsInternational Anatomical Nomenclature Committee (1989). ''Nomina Anatomica, together with Nomina Histologica and Nomina Embryologica''. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. dictate the spelling 'musculus buccinator' with double 'c', with the exception of the Jena Nomina Anatomica, authorized in 1935, which writes 'musculus bucinatorius' with a single 'c'.

Additional images

File:Sobo 1909 263.png File:Sobo 1909 262.png File:Sobo 1909 264.png File:Sobo 1909 266.png File:Gray157.png, Left maxilla, outer surface File:Gray176.png, Mandible, outer surface, side view File:Gray381.png, Scheme showing arrangement of fibers of orbicularis oris File:Gray513.png, The internal carotid and vertebral arteries, right side File:Gray778.png, Distribution of the maxillary and mandibular nerves and the submaxillary ganglion File:Gray781.png, Mandibular division of the trifacial nerve File:Gray1201.png, The mouth cavity: The cheeks have been slit transversely and the tongue pulled forward. File:Buccinator muscle animation small.gif, Position of buccinator muscle (red) File:Buccinator muscle lateral.png, Position of buccinator muscle (red) File:Buccinator muscle frontal.png, Position of buccinator muscle (red) File:Slide1vv.JPG, Buccinator muscle

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Muscles of the head and neck