PMID: 11921841Mar 30, 2002Paper

Orthodontic finishing after TMJ disk manipulation and recapture

International Journal of Orthodontics
H Clifton Simmons

Abstract

Orthodontic treatment has as its goal in most patients to achieve a cosmetic and functional result. There are functional goals for all orthodontic treatment and in some few cases the functional outweigh the cosmetic; an example would be a cleft-palate case. Orthodontic finishing to a specific condylar position is not routinely a goal of orthodontic care. The reason for this is that only patients who have pain, dysfunction and a negative change in quality of life from their temporomandibular apparatus need this tangential type of treatment. Research has shown that most patients suffering from a temporomandibular disorder (TMD) have displacement of the temporomandibular disk(s). Research has shown that when the mandibular condyle is repositioned to the Gelb 4/7 position that the temporomandibular joint disk is recaptured to a normal position between 85% and 96% of the time. The Gelb 4/7 position has been equated to the physiologic position of the mandibular condyle in the glenoid fossa. TMJ condyle repositioning to the physiologic position has been correlated to disk recapture proven by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A case is shown in which a displacement without reduction is manipulated into reduction and maintained with ort...Continue Reading

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