The lateral aspect is more involved, and is bordered by the ramus of the mandible, the deep lobe of the parotid gland, the medial pterygoid muscle, and below the level of the mandible, the lateral aspect is bordered by the fascia of the posterior belly of digastric muscle.
12.
The stimulation of the trigeminal nerve by contraction of the pterygoid muscles of jaw results in the excitation of the branch of the oculomotor nerve that innervates the levator palpebrae superioris ipsilaterally ( on the same side of the face ), so the patient will have rhythmic upward jerking of their upper eyelid.
13.
The angle of the mandible, which may be either inverted or everted, is marked by rough, oblique ridges on each side, for the attachment of the masseter laterally, and the pterygoideus internus ( medial pterygoid muscle ) medially; the stylomandibular ligament is attached to the angle between these muscles.
14.
Botulinum toxin solution ( " Botox " ) is sometimes used to treat TMD . Injection of botox into the lateral pterygoid muscle has been investigated in multiple randomized control trials, and there is evidence that it is of benefit in TMD . It is theorized that spasm of lateral pterygoid causes anterior disc displacement.
15.
Medial to the anterior extremity of the infratemporal crest is a triangular process that serves to increase the attachment of the lateral pterygoid muscle; extending downward and medialward from this process on to the front part of the lateral pterygoid plate is a ridge that forms the anterior limit of the infratemporal surface, and, in the articulated skull, the posterior boundary of the pterygomaxillary fissure.
16.
The nerve then passes between the medial pterygoid muscle and the ramus of the mandible, and crosses obliquely to the side of the tongue over the constrictor pharyngis superior and styloglossus, and then between the hyoglossus and deep part of the submandibular gland; it finally runs from laterally to medially inferiorly crossing the duct of the submandibular gland, and along the tongue to its tip becoming the sublingual nerve, lying immediately beneath the mucous membrane.
