This line begins faintly at the mental tubercle and projects posterior and superior along the external surface of the mandible. It passes just below the mental foramen and as it nears the ramus it becomes much more prominent. It provides attachment to the depressor anguli oris and buccinator muscles.

The term line in anatomy suggests a straight ridge of bone. The word obliquus, from the Latin, means at an angle.

Linea obliqua mandibulae