Volume 24 - Issue 2

Is it possible that over the last 30-40 years our profession has been searching for increasingly complex solutions for TMD and OSA when there may actually be a relatively simple explanation and solution? To paraphrase Bob Dylan’s question in the 1960s, “How many years must a profession exist before it actually sees?” The correlation between TMD, OSA, and facial balance has only recently begun to be seen by a few in the profession.  The ...

As I began to consider subjects for my first editorial, as a new associate editor for CRANIO, I knew that it had to be timely and germane to this highly respected publication and its readership. I was taking the place of Dr. Wes Shankland and those were big shoes to fill. I wanted to discuss a topic that I felt required serious attention by all involved with the treatment of TMD, but had heretofore been ...

The purpose of this study was to assess the degree of right-left asymmetry of the glenoid fossa. The specific aims were (1) to determine whether there were relationships between age, number of teeth, slope of the articular eminence, fossa depth, and the degree of right-left asymmetry, and (2) to compare the right-left asymmetry of two populations, one characterized by an acceptable occlusion (A-Occ), the other by an unacceptable occlusion (partially edentulous; Un-Occ). A-Occ was defined ...

Intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy (IVRO) and advancement genioplasty are effective and predictable methods of treating selective individuals with mandibular prognathism. The sequence of performing these procedures does have a clinical effect, but this is not found in the literature. The purpose of this article is to introduce the clinical implication of the sequence of procedures and to recommend the preferred sequence based on experience. A retrospective study was conducted on 75 patients treated by IVRO ...

The purpose of this study was to record the pattern of electromyographic (EMG) activity of supra- and infrahyoid muscles at different body positions and jaw posture tasks. The sample included 22 healthy subjects with natural dentition, bilateral molar support, and absence of posterior occlusal contacts during mandibular protrusion. Bipolar surface electrodes were located on the left supra- and infrahyoid muscles for EMG recordings. In each subject EMG activity was recorded while standing and in the ...

The purpose of this study was to assess headache response of unselected neurology clinic chronic headache patients to TMD stabilization appliance and self-management therapies, and to identify features of patients whose headaches are more likely to improve from these therapies. Twenty chronic headache patients in a nontreatment control period were provided appliance and self-management therapies, evaluated five weeks after therapy, and those who chose to continue using their appliances were evaluated three months later. The ...

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and to characterize the symptoms and clinical signs of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) related to each severity category of Fonseca’s anamnestic index in a sample of Brazilian young adults (mean age 21.61±1.91 years, 87% females and 13% males), by the application of an anamnestic index proposed by Fonseca (1992) and by clinical examination considering mandibular range of motion and tenderness to palpation ...

Discomfort associated with wearing an intraoral splint represents a problem in the management of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) internal derangement. This study evaluated whether the use of a mandibular splint during the day and a maxillary splint at night could be more comfortable and therefore as efficacious in internal derangement treatment as a maxillary splint (AR splint). Fifty (50) patients (average age 28.8; range 14-63) with confirmed internal derangement in at least one TMJ were ...

This study investigated the clinical picture and different treatment methods and results at a number of institutions with the aim of establishing an effective method of treatment for intermittent closed lock (intermittent lock) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The subjects were 104 patients (29 males, 65 females) diagnosed with intermittent lock among 1787 temporomandibular disorder patients. The cases were classified into two types based on the time and occasion when the intermittent lock occurred. The ...

Bifid mandibular condyle is an infrequent and normally asymptomatic morphological alteration of the mandibular condyle. Although the underlying cause is not clear, a number of theories have been proposed, including teratogenic effects in the embryo, vascular alterations during condyle development, and condylar remodeling following fracture. Since Schier1 first described this anomaly in 1948 in live individuals, further cases have been documented in the literature. We present a new case of bilateral bifid condyle. The disorder ...

In his text outlining the various splint modalities in use today, Bledsoe,l defines a splint as a removable oral device fitted between the maxilla and the mandible. Its functions may include stabilizing the temporomandibular joint to reduce the muscle activity of the craniomandibular complex, or to reduce the attrition of the teeth to the parafunctional forces of occlusion or to trauma. Since much literature exists to support the efficacy of this modality of care ...