Morphological analysis of the temporomandibular joint in patients with anterior disc displacement

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the morphological characteristics of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in the patients with anterior disc displacement with reduction (ADDwR) and the alterations after occlusal splint treatment. Thirty ADDwR patients and ten asymptomatic subjects were recruited. Thirteen parameters were adopted, along with automatic computation and presentation of the joint space to characterize the TMJ morphologies. Statistical results showed that morphological discrepancies between the patients and the asymptomatic subjects were ubiquitous. The adjustment of condyle position through occlusal splint treatment can result in joint spaces widening and has positive effects on mitigating the conditions of ADDwR.

Keywords:

• Temporomandibular disorders (TMD)
• anterior disc displacement (ADD)
• morphometrics
• biomechanics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundations of China under Grant number 12202298 and 31670963; Strategic cooperation projects between Sichuan University and Yibin municipal people’s government under Grant number 2019CDYB-16 and 2020CDYB-8. We appreciate the West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University to provide the CT scans before and after the occlusal splint treatment, as well as the medical reports of the patients in this study.