CONDYLAR ADAPTATION UNDER LATERAL DEVIATION OF THE RABBIT MANDIBLE

ABSTRACT

Condylar process of mandible is an important and fuctionally versatile part of the mandible. There were quite large amount of investigations on the functional and anatomical adaptation of the temporomandibular joint(TMJ) to the surrounding tissues. But controversies on the mechanism of functional adaptation of the joint still exist. In this research, we investigated changes in the TMJ by the lateral deviation of the maxillary incisor to shift the mandible right, and bone the undecalcified microscopic sections with fluorescent microscope and von Kossa staining with bright field microscope. Results were as follows: 1. Lateral deviation rendered shifting and tilting of the mandible, There were, compressions in the right joint and opening of the left joint space at early stage. At the same time, both condyles shifted slightly to anterior. 2. After 2~4 weeks, left condyle showed anterior displacement and compressions in the joint space. Right condyle showed only slight shift to the anterior. 3. Regardless of the direction of the lateral shift, anterior bite plate compressed both condyle heads until 2 weeks. 4. There are bone resorptions in the anterior aspect of the condyle head and apposition of posterior border. Bone remodeling were observed between 3 and 4 weeks. 5. After 8 weeks of the experiment, there were little differences in condylar morphology between experimental and control group, though slight shifting and compression were still present in the experimental group. Lateral deviation of mandible evoked active remodeling of the TMJ until functional and anatomical reconstruction of TMJ position was achieved.