Association between condylar position, joint morphology and craniofacial morphology in orthodontic patients without temporomandibular joint disorders

Abstract

The present study investigated condylar position and joint morphology in adolescent patients and elucidated the possible association between the joint structure and condylar position, and craniofacial morphology. Sixty-five adolescent patients were selected as subjects and their tomograms and lateral cephalograms were analysed. No significant differences in joint spaces were found between the right and left temporomandibular joints. Both the condyles in this population were located slight anteriorly in the glenoid fossa. With respect to the association between condylar position, joint morphology and craniofacial morphology, the ramus plane angle also exhibited significant negative correlations with posterior, lateral and medial joint spaces. Furthermore, there was a significant negative correlation between the gonial angle and the anterior joint space. These findings imply that the condyle was likely to show more posterior position in the glenoid fossa when the mandible exhibited clockwise rotation. In conclusion, the condyle in the adolescent subjects showed a symmetrical anterior position relative to the glenoid fossa. In addition, the joint spaces and it ratios were significantly related to the craniofacial morphology associated with vertical dimension. It is suggested that the condylar position may be affected by craniofacial growth pattern.

Tomographic evaluation of the temporomandibular joint in malocclusion subjects: condylar morphology and position

“…Regarding the posterior articular spaces, there was little statistically significant difference between the right (2.1 ± 0.8 mm) and left (2.3 ± 0.8 mm) sides (Table 2). Kikuchi et al 26 found similar values for anterior (mean, 1.8 mm) and posterior (mean, 2.29 mm) articular spaces, in a sample of adolescents.…”

Association between mandibular condylar position and clinical dysfunction index

“…Several imaging modalities have been proposed to evaluate the condylar position in the glenoid fossa, including conventional radiography (Jos e Pereira et al, 2004;Serra and Gavião, 2006), conventional tomography (Major et al, 2002;Kikuchi et al, 2003;Wiese et al, 2008), CT (Tsuruta et al, 2004;Okur et al, 2012), CBCT (Ikeda and Kawamura, 2009;Ikeda et al, 2011;Cho and Jung, 2012;Ikeda and Kawamura, 2013), and MRI (Incesu et al, 2004;Robinson de Senna et al, 2009;Kandasamy et al, 2013). Conventional radiography, especially transcranial radiography which was previously used to assess condylar position and morphology, represents only the lateral pole of the condyle.…”

Radiological examination of the articular eminence morphology using cone beam CT

“…The first was the best-fit line method that was the angle between Ebf and Frankfort horizontal ( Figure 2); the second was the top-roof line method that was the angle between Etr and Frankfort horizontal ( Figure 3). [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The eminence height was established by the measurement of the perpendicular Figure 1 Lines and angles used in the study. Ebf, eminence inclination best-fit line; Etr, eminence inclination top-roof line; Eh, eminence height distance between the lowest point of the articular eminence and the highest point of the fossa ( Figure 4).…”

“…The inclination of articular eminence varies among people and it dictates the path of condylar movement as well as the degree of rotation of the disc over the condyle. 1,2 Many methods are used to examine the inclination of articular eminence, such as measurements on dry skulls, [3][4][5] conventional radiography 6 and tomography, 1,7 MRI [8][9][10][11] and CT. [12][13][14] However, CT machines have limitations in dentistry because of their high cost, large footprint and high radiation exposure. Cone beam CT (CBCT) has recently been developed as an alternative to conventional CT for dental and maxillofacial diagnostic osseous tasks.…”