Journal of Dental Research, Vol 67, 896-902, Copyright © 1988 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Eminence development of the postnatal human temporomandibular joint
J. C. Nickel, K. R. McLachlan and D. M. Smith
Department of Preventive Dental Science, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
The objective of this study was to analyze postnatal eminence development
quantitatively, as a first step in defining the relationship between
loading of the TMJ and eminence development. A sample of human osteological
remains provided the temporal bones of forty-nine (49) individuals of ages
between birth and twenty years. An angular measurement technique permitted
quantification of the degree of eminence development of each individual. It
was concluded that: (i) the TMJ eminence reaches more than 50% of mature
size, and exhibits mature morphology, by the time of completion of eruption
of the primary dentition; (ii) the maximum velocity of development of the
eminence takes place before three years of age; and (iii) the velocity of
development of the eminence is reduced at about five years of age, and
slowly diminishes to zero by the middle to late teens.
