1992 Volume 36 Issue 2 Pages 299-313
The examination of the laxity of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) region provides valuable diagnostic findings concerning the functional and pathological changes of the soft tissues of the TMJ. The purpose of this study was non-invasively to estimate the biomechanical properties of the human TMJ region. The biomechanical properties, damper: c, spring: k and mass: m, were analyzed for 28 normal subjects using an automatic system composed of a device for measuring mechanical mobility of the joint and a data analysis unit with a microcomputer.
As the results, following findings were obtained:
1. Using this method, the mechanical properties of the TMJ region could be to estimated noninvasively.
2. The mechanical properties in males were significantly greater than those in females (p<0.05).
3. The coefficient of variation in the mechanical properties of the TMJ varied about 5% both over one day and over one week.
4. Values of c and k were significantly correlated with the range of active and passive mouth openings, protrusive and retrusive movements, and end-feel distance (p<0.05).
5. Parameters of c and k were significantly correlated with the degree of overbite and the ratio of overjet to overbite (p<0.05).
