Ligament · Jaw

Stylomandibular ligament

Ligamentum stylomandibulare

A thickened strip of the deep cervical fascia running from the styloid process behind the ear to the back edge of the jaw near its angle. It is a condensation of a fascial sheet rather than a true joint ligament, and it does a partitioning job as much as a mechanical one: it forms the boundary between the parotid gland in front of it and the submandibular gland below. Mechanically it is slack through most of the jaw's range and only comes under tension when the mandible is pushed fully forward, so it is described as an accessory check on protrusion.