Volume 22 - Issue 1

ABSTRACT: This randomized double-blind study evaluated the effectiveness of pulsed radio frequency energy therapy (PRFE) in patients with temporomandibular joint arthralgia. Forty subjects (age range 22 to 55 yrs.) were assigned randomly into two equal groups: (1) Experimental group received PRFE using the Energex unit (Energex, Inc. Emerson, New Jersey) and (2) Control group received PRFE placebo treatment using a sham device. Both groups received six applications to the TMJ area over two weeks. Data ...

ABSTRACT: The influence of induced oral breathing on head and craniocervical posture was studied in ten healthy young adults. After a baseline recording, oral respiration was induced by using a swimmer’s type nose clip. The subjects were filmed 15 and 90 minutes after wearing the nose clip, immediately and 15 minutes after taking it off. The angles C7-tragion versus the true vertical, nasion-tragion versus the vertical, and C7-tragion-nasion were calculated, and the difference between ...

ABSTRACT: The literature reports evidence of various types of correlations between cervical alterations and cervical pain, and the existence of cervical pain in subjects with temporomandibular joint internal derangement (TMD). The hypothesis of this study is that cervical lordosis angle (CVT/EVT angle) alteration on cephalometrics could be correlated to the presence of TMD. The cephalometric records of 50 females with documented TMD were compared with those of a control group of 50 females. The ...

ABSTRACT: Today, physical therapy is recognized as an effective, reversible, and conservative treatment for temporomandibular disorders (TMD). The purpose of this investigation is to explore the feasibility of utilizing counter irritation with ischemic pain at a remote site outside of the head and neck region as a method for restoring muscle force in a course of physical therapy. Twenty healthy asymptomatic female subjects were recruited for this study. The experiments were performed over two days ...

ABSTRACT: A new perspective is proposed regarding the functional dynamics of occlusion, the masticatory muscles, and mandibular placement. Each is analyzed on the basis of a new criterion: force. Stomatognathic function is represented as an ongoing equilibrium maintained between the three-dimensional set of individual occlusal forces and the three-dimensional set of bilateral muscle forces. Mandibular placement is of prime importance, mediating as it does between the two. The conclusion is drawn that occlusion and the ...

ABSTRACT: It has been reported that joint effusion, the excessive accumulation of joint fluid in and around the joint, is related to temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders such as pain and disk displacement. However, there have been no longitudinal studies of this phenomenon. We performed a longitudinal study on the relationship between joint fluid and various pathological disk conditions. The subjects were 17 patients who visited our facility for orthodontic treatment and were diagnosed using MRI ...

ABSTRACT: In an effort to explore whether a specialty for craniofacial pain is warranted, the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain (AACP) commissioned an opinion survey of dentists. The survey population (N=4000) was stratified by specialty, so that dentists in affected areas would be adequately represented: 500 orthodontists and dentofacial orthopedists, 500 oral and rnaxillofacial surgeons, 500 periodontists, 500 prosthodontists, and 2,000 general practitioners. A total of 930 dentists responded for a 23.2 ...

ABSTRACT: MR images of the temporomandibular joint at occlusion and at various stages of mouth opening were registered and reconstructed three-dimensionally before and after a modified condylotomy in a patient with painful disk displacement. Following the condylotomy, the condyle/disk relationship had become normalized in all three planes of space at closed mouth and during mouth opening. The post-operative distances of the condylar and diskal paths had increased when compared with the pre-operative distances. The ...