Muscles of Head

Description

The muscles of the head include those that control facial expressions, move the eyes, aid in the structural integrity of the ears, permit mastication (i.e., chewing), aid in speech, and maintain the structural integrity of the nasal and oral cavities. The muscles of the face are highly variable and may be absent (Tubbs, Shoja and Loukas, 2016).

For descriptive purposes, the muscles are arbitrarily divided into the following six groups:

- extraocular muscles;

- muscles of auditory ossicles;

- facial muscles;

- masticatory muscles;

- muscles of tongue;

- muscles of soft palate.