Anatomical landmarks for localizing the buccal branch of the trigeminal nerve on the face

Abstract

The current literature is lacking in anatomical landmarks for identifying the buccal branch of the trigeminal nerve on the face. The current study was performed to elucidate this anatomy. Forty cadaveric sides underwent dissection to measure the distances from landmarks of the superficial face to the buccal nerve in this region. On average, the buccal nerve was found to lie 3cm lateral to the angle of the mouth and at this same level, the nerve was located a mean of 5mm medial to the medial aspect of the masseter muscle. The buccal nerve was found to be on average 7mm from the point of entrance of the parotid duct into the buccinator muscle and had an average distance of 5.5mm from the facial artery. We believe that additional landmarks for identifying the buccal nerve on the face may be of use to the surgeon and dentist.