Volume 20 - Issue 3

The etiology of facial pain is multifactorial. Based on the results of a questionnaire included in the study of the 1966 Northern Finland Birth Cohort, performed in 1997-98, we found an association of facial pain with subjective symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD), neck pain and with occlusal factors reported by 5,696 subjects. The aim of the present study was to examine these associations clinically. In the year 2000, a new inquiry was sent to ...

We compared dentition status and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders in 142 women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA, ages, 40 to 69 years) and 143 women of similar age without RA. The RA group had significantly fewer remaining teeth than the non-RA group. Number of decayed, missing, and filled (DMF) teeth, number of edentulous subjects, and number of subjects with complete and removable partial dentures were significantly higher in the RA group. Among RA subjects, 1.4 ...

Normal development of primary and mixed dentition is indispensable for establishing
a healthy mandibular function of the permanent dentition. Because condylar movements are crucial
for mandibular function, extensive studies have been reported. However, most of these studies have dealt with mandibular functions in adults, and there is less known about children with primary dentition. The purpose of this study was to clarify the condylar movements during lateral excursions in children
with primary dentition and compare ...

The objective of this study was to define the movements in the sagittal plane of the articular disk relative to the temporal bone and the mandibular condyle respectively, on jaw-opening in the absence of loads. Four temporomandibular joints from two human cadavers were used as materials in the study. Ten steel needles were placed in the lateral plane. Lateral photographs were taken of the articular area in different mandibular positions. OXY reference systems were adapted ...

Patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) frequently show symptoms related to the cervical spine. It is however unknown whether patients with TMD who have no symptoms in the neck region often have signs of cervical spine dysfunction (CSD) and whether there is a predominant localization of these asymptomatic CSDs. In a prospective and controlled examiner-blinded clinical trial, the prevalence and localization of asymptomatic CSD in patients with TMD was examined. Thirty patients with internal derangement of ...

Laterotrusive training is often used together with mouth-opening training in order to achieve adequate translation of the affected condyle in treatment of TMJ closed lock. This training is usually performed by voluntary laterotrusive movement (VLM) or by laterotrusive movement using only the fingers (FLM). However, satisfactory results are often not obtained by using these methods. To resolve this problem, we devised a new laterotrusive training device (LT device). In this paper, we describe the method ...

Forty-five patients with a primary diagnosis of muscular MD were evaluated and treated in a university based facial pain center. The patients were equally and randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. Group 1 patients were treated with traditional therapies appropriate for the particular patient. Group two patients used similar therapies that were appropriate for the patient but also had an oral vertical exercise device integrated into their therapy. Patients in the third group ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the pathological changes of the lateral pterygoid muscle (LPM) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with anterior disk displacement with nonreduction (ADDnr) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and to compare the abnormal findings of the LPM with the clinical symptoms and other pathological MRI alterations of the TMJ. Bilateral or unilateral ADDnr was demonstrated in 142 patients by MRI (176 TMJs; 106 females; 36 males; range ...