Click on the structure to specify the target of your label
![]() |
01 | ![]() |
Mylohyoid
Other Terms:
Musculus mylohyoideus,
Muscle mylo-hyoïdien
Muscle parts
None
Latin name
Musculus mylohyoideus
Latin muscle parts
None
Group
Branchial arch muscle – first arch (Suprahyoid muscle)
Etymology
The English name for this muscle is the muscle of the grinder and U-shaped bone. The word mylohyoid can be divided into the Greek words myle meaning “mill-stone or grinder,” in reference to the grinding ability of the mandible, and hyoid. The term hyoid comes from its resemblance to the Greek letter upsilon (u), which is aspirated as hy. This is combined with the suffix eidos meaning “shape or form.”
Origin
Mylohyoid line of the mandible
Insertion
Anterior surface of the hyoid body and median raphe that spans from hyoid bone to the inside of the mandibular symphysis
Action
Elevates the floor of the mouth during swallowing; helps raise the hyoid bone or depress the mandible.
Nerve supply
Mandibular branch of trigeminal nerve (Cranial nerve V)
Blood supply
The sublingual artery, a branch of the lingual artery, supplies the muscle. It also receives blood from the submental artery, a branch of the facial artery, which anastomoses within the muscle with the sublingual artery and the mylohyoid branch of the inferior alveolar artery via the first part of the maxillary artery.
Latin
Musculus mylohyoideus
French
Muscle mylo-hyoïdien