PTERYGOID MUSCLES

SUPERIOR PTERYGOID MUSCLE

Short and thick

Has two separate heads Superior

head Inferior head

Lies superiorly to Inferior Pterygoid Muscle

SUPERIOR HEAD

Smaller of the two heads

ORIGIN: Infratemporal crest of the greater wing of the sphenoid bone

INSERTION: Articular capsule and articular disc of the temporomandibular joint

INFERIOR HEAD

ORIGIN: Lateral surface of pterygoid plate

INSERTION: Articular disc and pterygoid fovea

INFERIOR HEAD (ORIGIN)

ACTION

Depress the mandible Protrude mandible Side to side movement of mandible

INNERVATION

Pterygoid branch of the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve