buc·ci·na·tor (b k s -n  tr)n. A muscle with origin from the alveolar portion of the maxilla, mandible, and pterygomandibular ligament, with insertion into the orbicular muscle of the mouth, with nerve supply from the facial nerve, and whose action flattens the cheek and retracts the angle of the mouth. Also called cheek muscle. |
buccinator
[buk′sinā′tər]
Etymology: L, buccina, trumpet
the main muscle of the cheek, one of the 12 muscles of the mouth. It is pierced by the duct of the parotid gland opposite the second molar tooth. The buccinator, innervated by buccal branches of the facial nerve, compresses the cheek, acting as an important accessory muscle of mastication by holding food under the teeth.
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