Mandible vs. Maxilla

Main Difference

The main difference between Mandible and Maxilla is that the Mandible is a the lower jaw bone and Maxilla is a upper jawbone formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones; includes the frontal portion of the palate of the mouth.

• Mandible

  The mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human face. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone of the skull (discounting the ossicles of the middle ear).The bone is formed in the fetus from a fusion of the left and right mandibular prominences, and the point where these sides join, the mandibular symphysis, is still visible as a faint ridge in the midline. Like other symphyses in the body, this is a midline articulation where the bones are joined by fibrocartilage, but this articulation fuses together in early childhood.The word “mandible” derives from the Latin word mandibula, “jawbone” (literally “one used for chewing”), from mandere “to chew” and -bula (instrumental suffix).

• Maxilla

  The maxilla (plural: maxillae ) in animals is the upper fixed bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. The upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxillary bones are fused at the intermaxillary suture, forming the anterior nasal spine. This is similar to the mandible (lower jaw), which is also a fusion of two mandibular bones at the mandibular symphysis. The mandible is the movable part of the jaw.