Dominic Stone
The human face has 20 main facial muscles, or craniofacial muscles, which are essential for chewing and making facial expressions. The mouth, in particular, has several muscles that work together to help with chewing, speaking, and breathing. The tongue, for example, is made up of eight interwoven muscles that help move food towards the teeth and eventually to the throat, while also playing a crucial role in speech. The masseter, temporalis, medial pterygoid, and lateral pterygoid muscles are also involved in mastication or chewing, moving the mandible. These muscles have major control over the movements of the mandible, such as elevating it to close the mouth or depressing it to open the mouth.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of facial muscles | 20 |
| Functions of facial muscles | Chewing, making facial expressions, and controlling parts of the face |
| Facial muscle groups | Craniofacial muscles, buccolabial muscles, muscles of mastication |
| Mouth functions | Chewing, speaking, breathing, tasting, smiling |
| Mouth parts | Cheeks, lips, palate (roof of the mouth), tongue |
| Tongue characteristics | Consists of eight interwoven muscles, helps move food towards the throat, plays a role in speech |
| Muscles of mastication | Masseter, temporalis, medial pterygoid, lateral pterygoid |
| Conditions affecting the mouth | Bad breath, dry mouth, dental injuries, dental plaque, abscessed tooth, gum disease, mouth sores, cleft lip and palate, etc. |
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What You'll Learn
The tongue is a muscle made up of eight interwoven muscles
The human mouth is part of the digestive and respiratory systems, and it helps with daily functions like eating, speaking, and breathing. The mouth is made up of several parts, including the lips, cheeks, and palate (roof of the mouth). The tongue, in particular, is a muscular structure located on the floor of the oral cavity. It is the primary taste organ and plays a key role in the initial phases of swallowing.
The tongue is composed of eight interwoven muscles, divided into two groups: the intrinsic and extrinsic muscles. The four intrinsic muscles are not attached to any bone and are responsible for altering the shape of the tongue. They include the superior longitudinal muscle, the inferior longitudinal muscle, the vertical muscle, and the transverse muscle. These muscles change the shape of the tongue by lengthening, shortening, curling, uncurling, flattening, and rounding its surface. This is essential for functions like tongue rolling, speaking, and swallowing.
The four extrinsic muscles of the tongue are anchored to bone and are responsible for altering the tongue's position, allowing for protrusion, retraction, and side-to-side movement. These muscles include the genioglossus, the hyoglossus (which may include the chondroglossus), the styloglossus, and the palatoglossus. The genioglossus muscle, for example, contributes significantly to the shape of the tongue and enables protrusion or "sticking the tongue out." The styloglossus muscle, on the other hand, arises from the styloid process of the temporal bone and draws the sides of the tongue up to create a trough for swallowing.
The tongue is a highly innervated structure, receiving its blood supply primarily from the lingual artery, a branch of the external carotid artery. The deep lingual artery, which is a termination of the lingual artery, supplies the apex of the tongue. The lymphatic vessels from the body of the tongue are divided into marginal and central vessels, which drain into different nodes. The hypoglossal nerve (CN XII) provides motor innervation to all the intrinsic and extrinsic muscles of the tongue, except for the palatoglossus muscle, which is innervated by the vagus nerve (CN X).
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The mouth has over 50 pairs of muscles to help with swallowing
The human face has about 20 skeletal muscles that control facial movements, including chewing and making facial expressions. The mouth is an oval-shaped opening that sits just below the nose, starting at the lips and ending towards the tonsils. It is part of the digestive and respiratory systems and supports functions like eating, speaking, and breathing.
The mouth has over 50 pairs of muscles that help with swallowing. The tongue, which is made up of eight interwoven muscles, plays a crucial role in this process. It helps move food towards the teeth and eventually pushes it to the back of the mouth towards the pharynx. The tongue's movement during swallowing is supported by a closed mouth. The oral phase of swallowing involves a range of motions by the tongue, pulling the food along its centre from the front and middle of the mouth to the back. This is when the tongue enables the transport of food towards the oropharynx, triggering the swallowing reflex.
The oral phase of swallowing is followed by the pharyngeal phase, which involves rapid muscle contractions to propel food through the upper oesophageal sphincter and into the oesophagus. During this stage, the larynx muscle contracts tightly to stop breathing momentarily, allowing food to pass safely into the oesophagus and towards the stomach.
The masseter, temporalis, medial pterygoid, and lateral pterygoid muscles are the four major muscles responsible for mastication (chewing). These muscles move the jaw up and down, assisting in chewing, grinding, and speaking. The masseter muscle is the primary muscle used for chewing. The temporalis muscle is fan-shaped and fills the temporal fossa, with its fibres converging inferiorly to form a tendon that exits the temporal fossa and inserts into the mandible. The medial pterygoid muscle assists with the elevation and protrusion of the mandible.
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The mouth is part of the digestive and respiratory systems
The mouth is a vital part of the human body, serving multiple functions and forming a part of both the digestive and respiratory systems.
The mouth is the orifice through which all food enters the body, marking the beginning of the digestive tract. Digestion starts in the mouth before we even take the first bite of a meal. The smell of food triggers our salivary glands, making our mouths water. When we taste food, more saliva is produced, which contains enzymes that start the process of breaking down food. The mouth also stores food as it waits to be digested, allowing the body to eat only a few times a day and to ingest more food than it can process at one time.
The mouth is also responsible for chewing food, which is facilitated by the various muscles in the face and mouth. The craniofacial muscles are essential to chewing and making facial expressions. These muscles work together to control the parts of the face. The buccinator muscle, for example, is a thin muscle in the cheek that holds each cheek toward the teeth. The masseter muscle, on the other hand, runs from each cheek to each side of the jaw and helps the jaw close. The tongue and other muscles then push the chewed food into the pharynx, which is the next destination for swallowed food.
The mouth is also an important part of the respiratory system, as it brings air into the lungs. The mouth is larger than the nose, allowing more air to enter, and because the air doesn't have to travel as far, the body can use it faster. However, the mouth does not have a filtration system like the nose. When we breathe through our noses, the air is filtered, warmed, and moistened by tiny hairs called cilia. Breathing mainly through the mouth can dry out the gums and cause issues like bad breath and dry mouth.
The respiratory system includes the nose, mouth, throat, voice box, windpipe, lungs, and diaphragm. When we breathe in, the diaphragm moves down toward the abdomen, and the rib muscles pull the ribs upward and outward, expanding the chest cavity and pulling air through the nose or mouth into the lungs. When we breathe out, the diaphragm moves up, and the chest wall muscles relax, causing the chest cavity to get smaller and push air out of the respiratory system through the nose or mouth.
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Facial muscles control facial expressions
The human face has about 20 main facial muscles, also known as craniofacial muscles, which are essential for chewing and making facial expressions. These muscles are also called mimetic muscles and are only found in mammals. They are the only muscles that attach to the dermis. The facial muscles are just under the skin (subcutaneous) muscles that control facial expressions. They generally originate from the surface of the skull bone or, rarely, the fascia, and insert on the skin of the face. When they contract, the skin moves, and these contractions are guided by sensory feedback.
Facial expressions are a critical form of nonverbal social communication that promotes emotional exchange and affiliation among humans. The muscles of facial expression are located in the subcutaneous tissue, originating from bone or fascia and inserting onto the skin. By contracting, the muscles pull on the skin and exert their effects. They are the only group of muscles that insert into the skin. The oral muscles of facial expression are responsible for the movements of the mouth and lips. For instance, the buccinator, a thin muscle in the cheek that holds each cheek toward the teeth, and the depressor anguli oris, which is on each side of the chin and works with other muscles to produce a frown.
The procerus is the most superior of the nasal muscles. It lies superficially to the other muscles of facial expression. It originates from the nasal bone and inserts onto the skin of the lower medial forehead. It pulls the eyebrows downward to produce transverse wrinkles over the nose, which is associated with frowning. The depressor septi nasi muscle assists the alar part of the nasalis in opening the nostrils. It originates from the maxilla (above the medial incisor tooth) and inserts onto the nasal septum. It pulls the nasal septum inferiorly to widen the nasal opening.
The facial nerve controls the facial muscles, and damage to it can result in facial paralysis. This can be caused by a stroke, Bell palsy, or parotid salivary gland cancer. It can also be damaged temporarily by trauma or permanently by surgery. Paralysis inhibits facial expressions and impairs the patient's ability to speak.
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Mouth muscles are connected by a fibromuscular hub called the modiolus
The human face has almost 20 flat skeletal muscles that attach to different places on the skull. These muscles are essential for chewing and making facial expressions. The mouth, being a part of the face, also has muscles that help it perform its functions.
The mouth muscles are connected by a fibromuscular hub called the modiolus, which is a small fibromuscular structure at the corner of the mouth where fibres from multiple facial muscles converge. The modiolus acts as a common insertion point for multiple facial muscles so that the simultaneous action of these muscles and their effects on the cheeks, chin, lips, commissures, vestibule of the mouth, and both jaws may be consolidated. This results in finely controlled actions so that phonation, shouting, sobbing, deglutition, drinking, mastication, etc., may all be coordinated in their execution. The modiolus is also important for cosmetic dentistry, as the facial muscles that insert into it are key to the aesthetics of the lips coming together as the commissures at the corners of the mouth.
The modiolus is formed by the convergence of the buccinator, orbicularis oris, risorius, depressor anguli oris, and zygomaticus major muscles. The marginal portion of the orbicularis oris muscle passes from the modiolus on one side to the modiolus on the other side of the mouth. Some of the fibres curl upon themselves, forming the vermilion border, which is the demarcation between the lips and the adjacent skin. The risorius muscle, also known as the "smiling muscle", pulls the angles of the mouth laterally and superiorly to produce a smile. The levator anguli oris is a slender, sheet-like muscle that arises from the canine fossa of the maxilla and attaches to the modiolus.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the mouth has muscles. The tongue is a muscle firmly anchored to the floor of the mouth and is made up of eight interwoven muscles. The mouth also has four pairs of major muscles of mastication (chewing) which move the mandible.
The muscles involved in mastication are the masseter, temporalis, medial pterygoid, and lateral pterygoid muscles. These muscles control the movement of the mandible.
The buccinator, a thin muscle in the cheek that holds each cheek toward the teeth, is another muscle in the mouth. The auriculars, which allow some people to move their ears, are also present.
