The parotid region is actually part of the neck but it extends into the facial region as well. It also must be studied before the infratemporal region can be examined. We will examine the parotid region from superficial to deep pointing out the gland itself and the structures running through it.

The parotid gland is a superficial structure located in the upper neck above the posterior belly of the digastric muscle. It is a salivary gland that has a large duct (pd) which crosses the masseter muscle to pierce the buccinator muscle opposite the upper 2nd molar tooth. The duct can frequently be rolled between the finger and the masseter muscle. The skin overlying the lower pole of the gland is supplied by the greater auricular nerve (ga), a branch of the cervical plexus. You have already identified the branches of the facial nerve appearing at the upper and anterior edges of the gland (yellow).
If the parotid gland is carefully removed, you can identify the structures located within it. The first plane is the venous plane and consists of the retromandibular vein (rm) and its tributaries and branches: st--superficial temporal rm--retromandibular vein m--maxillary vein ad--anterior division f--facial cf--common facial pd--posterior division pa--posterior auricular ej--external jugular The common facial vein empties into the internal jugular vein and the external jugular into the subclavian vein near its junction with the internal jugular.
When the venous plane is removed we reach the important nervous plane. The importance of this plane is the presence of the facial (VII) nerve. The facial nerve leaves the skull through the stylomastoid foramen and immediately enters the deep part of the parotid gland where it gives off its branches: posterior auricular (pa) motor branch to posterior belly of digastric (db) temporal branch (t) zygomatic branch (z) buccal branches (b) mandibular branch (m) cervical branch (c)
Deep to the nerves lies the arterial plane which includes terminal parts of the external carotid artery and its branches: external carotid artery (EC) occipital artery (oc) maxillary artery (m) transverse facial artery (tf) superficial temporal artery
The deepest part of the parotid region is the parotid bed and houses the deep part of the gland which fills the small space between the neck of the condyle of the mandible (nc) and the mastoid process (m). Other structures forming the floor of this space are the : styloid process (sp) stylohyoid muscle (sh) stylopharyngeus muscle (sph) posterior belly of the digastric muscle (pbd) The gland becomes infected and swollen in mumps. If you have had the mumps, you will realize just how difficult it is to open your mouth. Now, you can see why this is so. When you open the mouth, you narrow the parotid bed space and compress the deep parotid gland between the neck of the condyle and the mastoid process.
The artery entering the infratemporal fossa is the maxillary branch of the external carotid artery. As can be seen, it has many branches (11 in all). You will probably not be responsible for all of them but I have included them all for completeness. Maxillary artery deep auricular (da) anterior tympanic (at) middle meningeal (mm) accessory middle meningeal (amm) inferior alveolar (ia) buccal (b) deep temporal (dt) posterior superior alveolar (psa) descending palatine (dp) infraorbital (io) sphenopalatine (sp) External carotid artery (ec) occipital (oc) transverse facial (tf) superficial temporal (st) The sphenopalatine and descending palatine arteries pass through a small space between the pterygoid process of the sphenoid and the maxilla, the pterygomaxillary fissure.
The mandibular nerve (V3) is the nerve of the infratemporal fossa and is responsible for supplying the muscles of mastication plus two tensor muscles: 1) tensor palati and 2) tensor tympani. The branches are as follows: deep temporal (dt) auriculotemporal (at) inferior alveolar (ia) nerve to the mylohyoid (nmh) lingual (l) buccal (b) branches to lateral pterygoid (not labeled)