On each side, the lingual artery originates from the external carotid artery in the neck adjacent to the tip of the greater horn of the hyoid bone. It forms an upward bend and then loops downward and forward to pass deep to the hyoglossus muscle, and accompanies the muscle through the aperture (oropharyngeal triangle) formed by the margins of the mylohyoid, superior constrictor, and middle constrictor muscles, and enters the floor of the oral cavity.