Submental artery
Arteria submentalis
The largest neck branch of the facial artery, running forward on mylohyoid below the mandible to supply the chin and floor of the mouth.
At a glance
- English
- Submental artery
- Latin (TA2)
- Arteria submentalis
- System
- Artery
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the submental artery
This facial artery branch travels along the underside of the jaw towards the chin. Of the branches the facial artery gives off in the neck, it is the biggest. It leaves the facial artery where that vessel emerges from the deep surface of the submandibular gland, just before the facial artery turns up over the lower border of the mandible.
It runs forwards on the outer surface of mylohyoid, close beneath the mandibular body and covered by the anterior belly of digastric, with the submandibular gland and lymph nodes nearby. The nerve to mylohyoid lies alongside it. Along the way it supplies mylohyoid, digastric, the submandibular gland and the overlying skin and platysma, and it anastomoses with the sublingual artery, a branch of the lingual, often through perforating branches across mylohyoid, and with the inferior alveolar artery's mylohyoid branch.
Near the midline at the mandibular symphysis it turns upwards round the lower border of the jaw and divides into superficial and deep branches. The superficial branch runs between the skin and depressor labii inferioris and joins the inferior labial artery, while the deep branch, lying between that muscle and the bone, feeds the lower lip and links with the inferior labial and mental arteries.
Because the submental vessels feed a defined patch of skin under the chin, surgeons use them for the submental island flap, which can be swung up to repair defects of the face or the inside of the mouth. In some people the submental artery replaces part of the sublingual artery, which matters when placing dental implants in the front of the lower jaw: a drill that perforates the inner cortex can tear these vessels and cause dangerous bleeding in the floor of the mouth.
Course and supply
- Arises from
- The facial artery in the neck, as it leaves the submandibular gland.
- Ends in
- Divides near the symphysis menti into superficial and deep branches that join the inferior labial and mental arteries.
- Supplies
- Supplies mylohyoid, digastric, the submandibular gland, the skin under the chin and the lower lip.
Anthromica
See the submental artery where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
