Halfway up the inner surface of the ramus the nerve supply for the lower teeth and soft tissue enters through which structure?

• A. Articular eminence
• B. Foramen ovale
• C. Mental foramen
• D. Mandibular foramen

Answer: (A)

The path into the mandible for the nerve that supplies the lower teeth and surrounding soft tissues is through the mandibular foramen. This opening sits on the inner surface of the ramus about halfway up, and the inferior alveolar nerve (a branch of V3) enters here and travels within the mandibular canal to innervate the teeth. A branch called the mental nerve then exits nearby at the mental foramen to supply the chin and lower lip. The articular eminence is part of the temporomandibular joint and isn’t a nerve opening. The foramen ovale is a skull-base passage for V3 before it enters the cranium, not the entry into the mandible. Therefore, the correct structure is the mandibular foramen.