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

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) 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. The two maxil ...

and 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 ...

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 () is the portion of bone containing the tooth sockets on the jaw bones (in humans, the maxilla and the mandible). The alveolar process is covered by gums within the mouth, terminating roughly along the line of the mandibular ...

of the maxilla and

, corresponding to the three pairs of molar teeth and in the mandible, it is attached upon the bucinator crest posterior to the third molar; and behind, from the

anterior Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

border of the pterygomandibular raphe which separates it from the constrictor pharyngis superior. 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, and those from above with the lower segment; the upper and lower fibers are continued forward into the corresponding

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

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 ta ...

(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).

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 bucinator 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. Th ...

and smiling, and in neonates it is used to

suckle Suckle may refer to: *Suckling, for mammals, during Lactation **in human babies, Breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or ...

Structures piercing the bucinator

# Parotid duct ( Stenson's duct) #Molar glands of cheeks #Buccal branch of mandibular nerve

Etymology

A ''bucinator'' in

classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...

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''. The name ''bucina'' could refer in Roman 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 first edition of '' Terminologia Anatomica'',Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology (FCAT) (1998). ''Terminologia Anatomica''. Stuttgart: Thieme and preceding editions ('' Nomina Anatomica'')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 'buccinator' with double 'c', with the exception of the Jena Nomina Anatomica, authorized in 1935, which writes 'musculus bucinatorius' with a single 'c'. The second edition of ''Terminologia Anatomica'' published in 2019 adopted the spelling 'bucinator' 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