Quick Facts
Origin: Inferior alveolar nerve.
Course: Runs down the medial surface of the ramus of the mandible to reach the superficial surface of the mylohyoid muscle.
Branches: Digastric branch.
Supply: Transmits branchial motor efferent fibers to the mylohyoid muscle and the anterior belly of digastric muscle.
Related parts of the anatomy
Origin
The nerve to mylohyoid muscle is a branch of the inferior alveolar nerve, itself part of the posterior division of the mandibular nerve. It originates from the inferior alveolar nerve just proximal to the inferior alveolar nerve’s entry into the mandibular foramen.
Its motor fibers have cell bodies located in the motor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve.
Course
The nerve to mylohyoid muscle runs from its origin inferiorly just posterior to the stylohyoid ligament. It continues inferiorly along the medial surface of the ramus of the mandible in the mylohyoid groove, which extends roughly from the mandibular foramen to the posterior edge of the mylohyoid line. As it approaches the mylohyoid line, the nerve to mylohyoid muscle runs to the inferior or superficial surface of the mylohyoid muscle.
Branches
The nerve to mylohyoid muscle gives rise to a branch to the anterior belly of the digastric muscle.
Supplied Structures
The nerve to mylohyoid muscle is a motor nerve that transmits branchial motor efferent fibers to two muscles at the base of the jaw, the mylohyoid muscle and the anterior belly of the digastric muscle.
