Lateral pterygoid muscle

Beginning: crista infratemporalis alae majoris and lamina lateralis processus pterygoidei ossis sphenoidalis ..

Attachment: fovea pterygoidea under the head of the mandible, capsule of the jaw joint.

Innervation: n. ptegygoideus lateralis (3rd branch of the trigeminal nerve).

Function: initiates mouth opening;
 * bilateral action - forward thrust of the mandible;
 * unilateral action – mandible pull to the opposite side