The mobile bone of the face, also known as the mandible. The term sometimes includes the maxilla. The mandible bears the lower teeth on its upper surface and is connected to the base of the skull at the temporomandibular joints. Muscles attached to the jaw allow movements needed in chewing, biting, and side-to-side and downward movement.
The name applied to the bones that carry the teeth. The two upper jaw-bones, the maxillae, are ?rmly ?xed to the other bones of the face. The lower jaw, the mandible, is shaped somewhat like a horseshoe, and, after the ?rst year of life, consists of a single bone. It forms a hinge-joint with the squamous part of the temporal bone, immediately in front of the ear. Both upper and lower jaw-bones possess deep sockets, known as alveoli, which contain the roots of the teeth. (See DISLOCATIONS; BONE, DISORDERS OF; GUMBOIL; TEETH.)
n. either the *maxilla (upper jaw) or the *mandible (lower jaw). The jaws form the framework of the mouth and provide attachment for the teeth.
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