Buccinator muscle Buccinator muscle The buccinator ( ) is a thin quadrilateral muscle occupying the interval between the maxilla and the mandible at the side of the face. It forms the anterior part of the cheek or the lateral wall of the oral cavity. It arises from the outer surfaces of the alveolar processes of the maxilla and mandible, corresponding to the three pairs of molar teeth; and behind, from the anterior border of the pterygomandibular raphé which separates it from the constrictor pharyngis superior. It is attached upon the buccinator crest as far forward as the first molar tooth. The fibers
Muscle from the Latin "musculus" meaning "little mouse" perhaps because of the shape of certain muscles or because contracting muscles look like mice moving under the skin. The anatomy of muscles includes gross anatomy, which comprises all the muscles of an organism, and microanatomy, which comprises the structures of a single muscle. Muscle tissue is a soft tissue, and is one of the four fundamental types of tissue present in animals. There are three types of muscle tissue recognized in vertebrates: Cardiac and skeletal muscles are "striated" in that they contain sarcomeres that are packed into highly regular arrangements of bundles;