retromolar pad /-mō″lər/ [L, retro + mola, mill; D, paden, cushion] , a mass of soft tissue, usually pear-shaped, that marks the distal termination of the mandibular residual ridge. It is composed of mucous glands and fibers of the buccinator muscle, the pterygomandibular raphe, the superior constrictor muscle, and the temporal tendon.
