The retromolar space or retromolar gap is a space at the rear of the

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

, between the back of the last molar and the anterior edge of the ascending ramus where it crosses the alveolar margin. This gap is generally small or absent in modern humans, but it was more often present in

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

s, and it was common among some prehistoric

Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

s, such as Arikara and Mandan.

Retromolar pad

The retromolar area of a human mandible is covered by the retromolar pad (also known as the piriformis papilla), an elevated triangular area of

mucosa A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It ...

. It is composed of non-keratinized loose alveolar tissue covering glandular tissues and muscle fibers. It is important for supporting lower complete and partial dentures as well as landmarking in the fabrication of dentures.

References

Dental anatomy Human mouth anatomy {{dentistry-stub