The mandible is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in human face. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth. The mandible is located below the maxilla. This is the only movable bone in the skull.
The word "jaw" comes from Latin words "mandibula" and "jawbone" (literally meaning "one for chewing"). Like other connective tissues in the body, it is a midline connection, and the bones are connected by fibrocartilage and fused together in early childhood.
Men usually have a square, stronger and larger mandible than women. Spiritual prominence is more obvious in men, but it can be visualized and palpated in women. In rare cases, bilateral inferior alveolar nerves may appear. In this case, there is a second mandibular foramen, which is in a poor position. You can find it by noticing the double mandibular canal on the X-ray.
Formation process:
As time goes on, the mandible forms a bone (ossification), and the left and right cartilages are called Meckel cartilages. These cartilages form the cartilage zone of mandibular arch. Near the head, they are connected to the ear sac and meet at the lower end of the mandibular joint, which is the fusion point of two bones and consists of mesoderm tissue.
They move forward under the condyle and then bend downward, located in the groove near the lower edge of the bone; In front of canine teeth, they incline upward to pubic symphysis. The malleus and the incus are two bones of the middle ear, which are produced by the proximal end of each cartilage. As far as the lingual process is concerned, the next subsequent part is replaced by fibrous tissue, and the fibrous tissue sphenomandibular ligament is continuously formed.
Between the lingual teeth and canine teeth, cartilage disappears, while the lower and rear parts of the incisors become ossified and combine with this part of the mandible. In the sixth week of gestational age, intramembranous ossification occurred on the membrane covering the ventral outer surface of Meckel cartilage, and each half bone was formed by a single center and appeared near the mental foramen.
By the tenth week, the Meckel cartilage under and behind the front teeth was surrounded by dermal bone (also called membranous bone) and invaded. Later, the accessory nucleus of cartilage appeared.