Question:medium
Which of the following is not supplied by the anterior division of the mandibular nerve (V3)?
Which of the following is not supplied by the anterior division of the mandibular nerve (V3)?
Show Hint
The nerve to one pterygoid leaves the main V3 trunk, not the anterior division.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Temporalis
- Medial pterygoid
- Lateral pterygoid
- Masseter
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
The trigeminal nerve has three divisions, and only its third (mandibular, V3) division is mixed and supplies the muscles of mastication. After leaving the skull through the foramen ovale, V3 forms a short undivided trunk and then breaks into anterior and posterior divisions.
From the undivided main trunk, two motor twigs arise early: the nerve to medial pterygoid (which also sends slips to tensor veli palatini and tensor tympani) and the meningeal branch. Because the nerve to medial pterygoid comes off the main trunk, the medial pterygoid is functionally outside the territory of the anterior division.
The anterior division itself is predominantly motor and supplies temporalis (via the deep temporal nerves), masseter (via the masseteric nerve) and lateral pterygoid, plus the sensory buccal nerve to the cheek mucosa.
Mapping the options: temporalis, lateral pterygoid and masseter are all in the anterior-division territory; only the medial pterygoid is not. Hence the muscle that is not supplied by the anterior division is the medial pterygoid.
\[\boxed{\text{Medial pterygoid}}\]
From the undivided main trunk, two motor twigs arise early: the nerve to medial pterygoid (which also sends slips to tensor veli palatini and tensor tympani) and the meningeal branch. Because the nerve to medial pterygoid comes off the main trunk, the medial pterygoid is functionally outside the territory of the anterior division.
The anterior division itself is predominantly motor and supplies temporalis (via the deep temporal nerves), masseter (via the masseteric nerve) and lateral pterygoid, plus the sensory buccal nerve to the cheek mucosa.
Mapping the options: temporalis, lateral pterygoid and masseter are all in the anterior-division territory; only the medial pterygoid is not. Hence the muscle that is not supplied by the anterior division is the medial pterygoid.
\[\boxed{\text{Medial pterygoid}}\]
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