Eur J Anat, 24 (6): 527-529 (2020)

Importance of knowledge of the lateral pterygoid muscleâ??s anatomy and itâ??s variations

Juan J. Valenzuela-Fuenzalida^1-3, Marjorie Gold-Semmler³, Mathias Orellana-Donoso^2-3, Guernica Garcia-Gorigoitia³, Edmundo Santana-Machuca¹

¹Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de las Americas, Providencia Campus, Manuel Montt 948, Santiago, Chile²Department of Morphologies, Faculty of Medicine and Science, University San Sebastian, Santiago, Chile³Universidad Andres Bello, Departamento de Morfología, Facultad de Medicina, Santiago, Chile

ABSTRACT Dear editor,In the present letter, we shall discuss the im-portance of the relevance of the knowledge of the lateral pterygoid muscle morphology for the dentis-try profession, regarding a review published by our team in the 3rd volume of this year, in which we have collected evidence regarding the percentage of anatomical variation of the lateral pterygoid muscle reported in the literature, which is much less than what actually occurs in the population. Furthermore, it should be noted that in pathologies of the temporomandibular joint, this muscle plays a crucial role, for it is compromised or is even the cause of the pathology.