Study On The Quantitative Assessment Of Temporomandibular Joint Morphology And Structure

Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the condylar morphology,condylar position,and the morphology of articular fossa and eminence in a normal population through radiological methods.Then the differences according to right and left sides,genders and ages can be explored,which will contribute to establish the reference values of these parameters in normal individuals,as well as to help us to study characteristics of temporomandibular joints(TMJ)in abnormal individuals.Methods: 300 subjects were enrolled in our study from the Radiology Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital.They were divided into three groups according to the age: group 1(18-24 years old),group 2(25-34 years old),group 3(35-44 years old).Each group included 100 subjects(with 50 males and 50 females).Multislice computed tomography(MSCT)was used for scanning after that.Then all images were imported into the Mimics 17.0 software,so that the condylar morphology,condylar position,and the morphology of articular fossa and eminence could be assessed.Results: 1.The differences of condylar volume,surface and morphometric index(MI)between right and left sides were not obvious(p>0.05).The condylar volume and surface were significantly greater in males than females(p<0.05),while their condylar MI existed no difference(p>0.05).No statistical differences were found in volume and surface among three age groups.However,the MI of group 1 was statistically lower than that of group 3(p<0.05).2.The condylar position manifests significant differences in genders and ages(p<0.05),but no significant differences in TMJ sides(p>0.05).Females(62.1%)accounted for a greater proportion in posterior condylar position than males(37.9%),and the difference of gender distribution in posterior position was the most obvious among three kinds of condylar positions.3.No significant side,gender and age differences were noted in the thickness of RGF(p>0.05).The inclination and height of the articular eminence existed no differences in right and left TMJ as well(p>0.05).But the mean values of eminence inclination and height of males were significantly higher than those of females(p<0.05).As for the different age groups,the eminence inclination of group 3 was the highest among three age groups(p<0.05),while there was no significant difference in eminence height based on ages.Conclusions: TMJ sides have no significant influences on the condylar morphology,condylar position,and the morphology of articular fossa and eminence.However,it turns out that the gender and age may affect all the measurements with exception of the thickness of RGF.