Alloplastic reconstruction of the temporomandibular joint

Temporomandibular joint morphology in Korean using cone-beam computed tomography: influence of age and gender

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to investigate the condylar morphology and position of Koreans using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images. Analyzing the mean values of this study with reference to left and right sides, gender, and age will help to understand the size of the condyle and glenoid fossa, condylar morphology, and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) symmetry for establishing the standard temporomandibular joint structures of Koreans and then design the standard temporomandibular joint prosthesis for Koreans.

RESULTS

There was no significant result in the condyle size, condyle axis angle, joint space, fossa depth, and mandibular body size between the left and right sides (p > 0.05). On the other hand, the mediolateral width of the condyle and mandibular body size show significantly different with the gender (P < 0.05). Also, significant differences were found in condyle size, joint space, fossa depth, and mandibular body size according to age groups (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Condylar position and morphology vary according to side, age, and gender. The results of this study are expected to help in customizing a treatment for the patients who need TMJ reconstruction by predicting the TMJ morphology according to age and gender and design the standard temporomandibular joint prosthesis for the Koreans.

Finite element analysis of patient-specific TMJ implants to replace bilateral joints with simultaneous correction of facial deformity

Introduction

Finite element analysis (FEA) is a method to mimic the biomechanical behaviour of an object under various loading scenarios, and may be used during virtual planning of the TMJ prosthesis. Here we present an interesting case report where FEA was done to biomechanically evaluate patient specific total joint replacement prosthesis for bilateral TMJ replacement.

Case report

A 22 year old young girl visited our outpatient clinic with a chief complaint of retruded chin and limited mouth opening for the last 15 years. After clinical and radiographic examination, her corrective surgery was virtually planned on Mimics software. The Implants were studied under simulated loading scenarios in ANSYS to understand the structural integrity of the implant for different loading conditions.

Results

Maximum Von-Mises Stress on Condylar component is 151.9 MPa and Maximum Von-Mises Stress on Fossa component is 0.377 MPa. The minimum safety factor of the fossa component was about 15, which is safe enough to complete 100 million cycles. The maximum von-mises stress were detected at the screw holes in the condylar components of the implant. The screw holes were therefore the areas prone to highest chance of failure in the design.

Conclusion

We conclude that FEA based biomechanical analysis is important prerequisite during customized reconstruction of TMJ. In today's scenario of patient specific TMJ reconstruction, FEA based designing and planning of stress distribution along the bone and calculation of maximum strain in the prosthesis, further aids in the proper designing of this implant and enhances the post-operative clinical results.