A long-term longitudinal study of the osteoarthritic changes to the temporomandibular joint evaluated using a novel three-dimensional superimposition method

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the changes in individual condyles from 5 to 8 years in patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis using 3-dimensional cone beam computed tomography (3D CBCT) reconstruction and superimposition. To assess the longitudinal TMJ changes, CBCT was performed at initial (T0) and final (T2) timepoints that were at least 5 years apart and at a middle (T1) timepoint. To improve the accuracy, we used a novel superimposition method that designated areas of coronoid process and mandibular body. The differences in the resorption and apposition amounts were calculated between each model via maximum surface distances. The greatest resorption and apposition observed were − 7.48 and 2.66 mm, respectively. Evaluation of the changes in each condyle showed that osteoarthritis leads to both resorption and apposition. Resorption was mainly observed in the superior region, while high apposition rates were observed (in decreasing order) in the posterior, lateral, and anterior regions. The medial parts showed greater apposition than the lateral parts in all regions. Our superimposition method reveals that both resorption and apposition were observed in condyles with TMJ osteoarthritis, and resorption/apposition patterns depend on the individual condyle and its sites.

A study on volumetric change of mandibular condyles with osteoarthritis using cone-beam computed tomography

“…Studies assessing its association with clinical factors that influence these changes are also needed. Although several studies have assessed and analyzed condyles using CBCT images, many of them were cross-sectional, qualitative, or lacking consideration for clinical factors as described above 8,9,[14][15][16][17] . Therefore, this study quantitatively evaluated longitudinal changes in condylar volume in patients with DJD after treatment.…”

Morphologic Analysis of Condyle among Different Disc Status in the Temporomandibular Joints by Three-dimensional Reconstructive Imaging: A Preliminary Study

“…However, it has been determined that the morphological changes are caused by regressive alterations in the condyles that are associated with ADD [ 33 ]. Furthermore, a few studies preliminarily explored the 3D morphological variations of the condylar dimensions using CBCT images; nevertheless, they did not define the status of TMJ ADD using MRI [ 16 , 34 ]. The present study is the first to explore the changes in the dimensions of the condyle and glenoid fossa with regard to the TMJ ADD status by applying 3D stereoscopic models reconstructed from CBCT images.…”

The influence of over-erupted third molar on the temporomandibular joint and related imaging research

“…Liu Qi [25] , Feng Gang [26] , Liu Jianlin [29] et al have studied the volume, surface area and other threedimensional indexes of TMJ to analyze the difference of bilateral condyle morphology based on CBCT data through three-dimensional reconstruction, and have achieved relatively ideal research results [27,28,30,31] . Kyungjae Han [32] et al used the data obtained from 3D cone-beam computed tomography (3D CBCT) to carry out computer reconstruction and new 3D stacking method to evaluate patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis. Condylar changes were evaluated at three time points over a 5-8 year time range: initial (T0), intermediate (T1), and final (T2) to observe condylar changes over time in long-term TMJ osteoarthritis.…”