Cheek

The cheek is a lateral wall of the mouth.

Externally, the cheek extends from the ventral border of the mandible to the facial crest and to a line prolonging it beyond the facial tubercle. It can be subdivided into a masseteric region or “cheek plate,” corresponding to the powerful masseter muscle, firm and easily discernible beneath the skin, and a buccal or buccinator region, located more rostrally and extending to the angle of the mouth. Also called the “cheek pouch,” this second region is much thinner and more mobile.

Internally, the boundaries of the cheek are much more distinct. These are: rostrally, the angle of the mouth; caudally, the pterygomandibular fold, a mucosal ridge extending from the palate to the mandible behind the last molar; and finally, superiorly and inferiorly, the upper and lower buccogingival sulci, formed by the reflection of the oral mucosa between the cheek and the jaws.