Anatomy, Head and Neck, Mandibular Nerve

The fifth cranial nerve, the trigeminal nerve, has three branches which are the ophthalmic, maxillary, and mandibular. The third branch is called mandibular nerve (V3). It is the largest of the three divisions and carries both afferent and efferent fibers. The first two branches of the trigeminal nerve carry only afferent fibers. The mandibular nerve innervates the lower face including the mandible, lower teeth, and oral mucosa, the anterior two-thirds of the tongue, lower lip, temporomandibular joint, the mastication muscles and some smaller muscles, the skin of the temporal region, an area of the auricle and external acoustic meatus.