Buccal artery

At a glance

English

Buccal artery

Latin (TA2)

Arteria buccalis

System

Artery

Region

Head

Side

Paired, left and right

About the buccal artery

The buccal artery, once called the buccinator artery, is a small vessel of the deep face. It arises from the second, pterygoid part of the maxillary artery, the part that lies close to the lateral pterygoid muscle in the infratemporal fossa. This segment also gives the deep temporal, pterygoid and masseteric branches, all aimed at the muscles of chewing.

From its origin the artery runs obliquely forwards and downwards, passing between the medial pterygoid and the insertion of temporalis on the coronoid process and ramus of the mandible. It travels with the buccal branch of the mandibular nerve, which carries sensation from the cheek, and comes to lie on the outer surface of buccinator, the muscle that forms the wall of the cheek.

Its territory is the cheek: buccinator itself, the overlying skin and fat, and the mucous membrane lining the inside of the cheek. On the face it links up with twigs of the facial, infra-orbital and transverse facial arteries. Through these anastomoses the cheek receives blood from several directions at once.

The artery is small, but it lies in the field of several common procedures. It may bleed during surgery on the ramus of the mandible, during removal of lower wisdom teeth, or when an inferior alveolar nerve block needle is passed through the cheek towards the pterygomandibular space. Its branches can also feed flaps of cheek lining used to repair the palate and mouth.

Course and supply

Arises from

Second (pterygoid) part of the maxillary artery in the infratemporal fossa.

Ends in

Ends on the outer surface of buccinator, where it links with facial and infra-orbital artery twigs.

Supplies

Supplies buccinator and the skin and mucous membrane of the cheek.