compresses the cheek; & helps keep food between grinding surfaces of teeth during chewing
It's in the cheek
buccinator muscle
The Buccinator muscles. (The cheeks)
The main component of the cheecks is the buccinator muscle.
The buccinator muscle.
buccinator
THe buccinator
Buccinator
buccinator
inferior
Tempromandibular Joint
The main component of the cheecks is the buccinator muscle.
The muscle that resides in the cheek is names the buccinator and is innervated by the facial nerve. It is primarily a muscle of facial expression. Its function in mastication (chewing) is to push the food, with the aid of the tongue, to the opposite side of the mouth. It is, however, only able to form part of the inward movement of the cheeks; the rest is caused by negative pressure (semi-vacuum) being created by the action of the inferior tongue muscles pulling the tongue down and back.