Observations on Individuals with Radiographic Bilateral Condylar Remodeling

Abstract

Clinical, panoramic, cephalometric, and arthrographic findings are presented for 29 patients with bilateral condylar remodeling. Questions are raised with regard to joint noise and limited opening as indicators of intracapsular pathology and to a potential additive effect of condylar remodeling on the severity of Class II malocclusions that exist in individuals with condylar remodeling. It is postulated and supported that certain typical changes in condylar morphology, previously described but unexplained, are the result of chronic anterior dislocation of the meniscus without reduction, and that centric occlusion-centric relation discrepancies may be the result of condylar remodeling in some TMJ patients. The value of arthrographic examination in diagnosis is supported.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James W. Nickerson

James W. Nickerson, Jr., D.M.D.

Dr. Nickerson received his D.M.D. from the University of Alabama School of Dentistry in 1966. He then served four years as a dental officer with the U.S. Navy, partly at the Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital in California, under a Fellowship in oral surgery. Dr. Nickerson then completed his internship and residency in oral surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In 1973 he completed visiting fellowships in London, with Professors Geoffrey Howe, John Hovell, and Norman Rowe; and in Zurich with Professor Hugo Obwegesen.

Dr. Nickerson is a member of the ADA, The Tennessee Dental Association, The Nashville Academy of Medicine, The Nashville Dental Society, and the International Association of Dental Research. In addition, he is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and a Fellow of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

He is a clinical assistant professor at Vanderbilt Medical School in the Department of Oral Surgery. Dr. Nickerson's private practice in Nashville is limited to orthognathic, reconstructive, and craniomandibular patients.

Anne Møystad

Anne Møystad, D.M.D.

Anne Møystad, Dr. Nickerson's co-author, received her D.M.D. from the University of Oslo Faculty of Dentistry in 1981. She worked with Dr. Nickerson in 1981 and 1982 on a fellowship in craniomandibular pain. Dr. Møystad resides in Oslo, Norway.