Anatomy of the temporomandibular joint appears to have an important role in understanding masticatory system and diseases. Although many articles have been reported about the temporomandibular joint anatomy, there are a few reports describing the relations between basic anatomy and clinical condition.
We reviewed current articles about temporomandibular joint anatomy, aimed for clarifying the relations between basic and clinical findings.
Part 5:
We introduced articles about the fibrous capsule and the lateral ligament in the temporomandibular joint. The fibrous capsule is lacking in anterior and posterior recesses. The lateral ligament showed several types, then we cannot decide the shape and the function of the lateral ligament. Further research is needed including the receptors and the lateral pterygoid muscle in living body for geting the true functions.

View full abstract

Anatomy of the temporomandibular joint appears to have an important role in understanding masticatory system and diseases. Although many articles have been reported about the temporomandibular joint anatomy, there are a few reports describing the relations between basic anatomy and clinical condition.
We reviewed current articles about temporomandibular joint anatomy, aimed for clarifying the relations between basic and clinical findings.
Part 6:
There were three ligaments in the temporomandibular joint except the lateral ligament; i.e. the sphenomandibular ligament, the stylomandibular ligament and the tiny ligament. The tiny ligament include discomalleolar ligament and sphenomandibular ligament those continued from the malleus. The functions of those ligaments are unclear, but the discomalleolar ligament might have a function in force of a vector that pull the disk to medial with the medial head of the lateral pterygoid muscle at gape. And the discomalleoar ligament might be derived from upper head of the lateral pterygoid muscle.

View full abstract

Anatomy of the temporomandibular joint appears to have an important role in understanding masticatory system and diseases. Although many articles have been reported about the temporomandibular joint anatomy, there are a few reports describing the relations between basic anatomy and clinical condition.
We reviewed current articles about temporomandibular joint anatomy, aimed for clarifying the relations between basic and clinical findings.
Part 7:
We introduced articles about the retrodiscal tissue of the temporomandibular joint. This area is composed of looser connective tissues than that of the articular disk, and contains nerves, vessels, especially, venous plexuses which extend in the mandibular fossa at mouth opening.
Tissue elasticity of the retrodiscal area, derived from many elastic fibers those are mainly located in the medial part of this area, is thought to be closely related to the articular disk movement.

View full abstract

Investigations were carried out on three types of occlusal contact used in tissue-supported dentures: (A) full balanced occlusion, (B) Lingualized occlusion of the type which maintains bilateral balance over a wide range, and (C) lingualized occlusion of the type which does not maintain bilateral balance over a wide range. Objective and quantitative comparisons were done on six factors: (1) jaw movements, (2) interposition of food, (3) food extrusion, (4) extent of antero-posterior guidance, (5) masticatory efficiency, and (6) electromyographs during mastication.
It was concluded that lingualized occlusion of the type which maintains bilateral balance over a wide range was superior for all of the factors. To further enhance this type of lingualized occlusion, investigations were carried out as to the ideal shape of the occlusal surface of the artificial teeth. This report discusses the eleven structural elements of the bladed teeth employing lingualized occlusion which we developed using knowledge obtained from these results. In addition, based on clinical results and evaluations, reports were made and the effectiveness was demonstrated on three clinical cases with different treatment methods where occlusal reconstruction was carried out using bladed teeth with lingualized occlusion.

View full abstract

The mathematical formulae derived kinematically by the authors which descrive the motion of the mandible in relation to the maxilla were evaluated experimentally to establish if they were practical and sufficiently accurate for clinical use. By applying measured data of nonworking and working condylar paths together with rotational angle of the mandible around intercondylar axis to the mathematical formulae, the theoretical value for the incisal path was computed. Then, this value was compared statistically with the measured value for the incisal path of the same patient. Two sets of data measured by different researchers were used independently for increasing the reliability of the results.
The correlation coefficients between the theoretical and measured values were as high as 0.99. The regression lines were very close to and almost coincided with the lines of agreement (Y=X), and the root residual variances were not greater than 2.4 degrees.
In conclusion, the accuracy of the computation using the mathematical formulae for mandibular movement derived by the authors has proved to be sufficient for clinical application. The verified formulae can be applied to various studies of mandibular movement. Application of the formulae include future CAD/CAM for artificial teeth.

View full abstract