A study on the size of condyle and the posterior slope of the articular eminence in patients with temporomandibular joint disorders

Park, Won Hee; Shim, Kwang Sup; Woo, Soon Seop; Lee, Young Soo

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrelationship between temporomandibular joint disorders, and the condyle size and angle of the posterior slope of the articular eminence. The subjects used in this study were 100 patients with temporomandibular joint disorders and 100 volunteers with normal temporomandibular joints. All the patients and the volunteers were subjected to take panoramic and temporomandibular radiographs for the morphologic evaluation. The films were traced, measured, and analyzed. The data were processed with SPSS/PC+ package for statistical analysis. The obtained results were as follows; 1. The posterior slope of the articular eminence in the group of temporomandibular joint disorders was larger than that in the normal group (p<0.05). The mean articular eminence angle was 31.6degrees+/- 6.3 in the group of temporomandibular joint disorder, and 29.9degrees+/- 8.4 in the normal group. 2. There were no statistically significant differences in the discrepancies of the left and right articular eminence angular measurements between the groups (p>0.05). 3. There were no statistically significant differences in the condylar ratio between the groups (p>0.05). 4. There were no statistically significant differences in the discrepancies of the left and right ramus length measurements between the groups (p>0.05). 5. The relative size of condyle to fossa in the group of temporomandibular disorders was smaller than that in the normal group (p<0.05).