Where the mandible sits in the skeleton
The mandible is the lower jaw. It holds the lower teeth and moves at the jaw joint with the temporal bones when we chew and speak. It is the largest and strongest facial bone, and apart from the ear ossicles the only skull bone that moves at a joint. It has a body and an upright ramus; the condylar process at the top of the ramus forms the jaw joint with the temporal bone, and a chewing muscle attaches to the coronoid process in front.
Frequently asked questions
Which part of the skeleton is the mandible in?
The mandible is one of the bones of the skull and hyoid. This group covers the bones that enclose the brain, the bones that frame the face, and the hyoid at the front of the neck.
How many bones are in the skull?
The skull has 22 bones: eight cranial bones that enclose the brain and fourteen facial bones that frame the face. The hyoid in the front of the neck is a separate bone that forms no joint with any other bone.
Is there one mandible or a pair?
There is just one mandible, on the midline of the body.
Which is the largest facial bone?
The mandible. It is the largest and strongest bone of the face, and it moves at the jaw joint.
Other bones of the skull and hyoid
- Frontal bone
- Parietal bone
- Temporal bone
- Occipital bone
- Sphenoid bone
- Ethmoid
- Zygomatic bone
- Maxilla
- Nasal bone
- Lacrimal bone
- Palatine bone
- Vomer
- Inferior nasal concha
- Hyoid bone
Joints of the mandible
Compare with similar bones
Bone counts
By region
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