Angle of the mandible

The angle of the mandible (a.k.a. gonial angle, Masseteric Tuberosity, and Masseteric Insertion) is located at the posterior border at the junction of the lower border of the ramus of the mandible.

The angle of the mandible, which may be either inverted or everted, is marked by rough, oblique ridges on each side, for the attachment of the masseter laterally, and the pterygoideus internus (medial pterygoid muscle) medially; the stylomandibular ligament is attached to the angle between these muscles.

The forensic term for the midpoint of the mandibular angle is the gonion. The gonion is a cephalometric landmark located at the lowest, posterior, and lateral point on the angle. This site is at the apex of the maximum curvature of the mandible, where the ascending ramus becomes the body of the mandible.

The mandibular angle has been named as a forensic tool for gender determination, but some studies have called into question whether there is any significant sex difference in humans in the angle.

Many mammals have a distinctive bony prong, the angular process, immediately above the angle of the mandible.

• Ohngren's line

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  Position of angle of the mandible (shown in red). Animation.
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  Mandible bone. Position of angle shown in red.
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  Mandible. Outer surface. Side view. (Angle labeled at bottom right.)
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  Mandible. Inner surface. Side view. (Angle visible at bottom left.)
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  The Pterygoidei; the zygomatic arch and a portion of the ramus of the mandible have been removed.
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  Mandible. Inner surface. Angle of mandible labeled at bottom right.

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 174 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

• lesson4 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University)
• Anatomy photo:34:st-0202 at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center - "Oral Cavity: Bones"
• "Anatomy diagram: 34256.000-2". Roche Lexicon - illustrated navigator. Elsevier. Archived from the original on 2013-06-11.
• Anatomy image: skel/mandible2 at Human Anatomy Lecture (Biology 129), Pennsylvania State University