Journal of Dental Research, Vol 80, 437-442, Copyright © 2001 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals

ARTICLES

Motion of the human mandibular condyle during mastication

S. Miyawaki, Y. Tanimoto, T. Kawakami, M. Sugimura and T. Takano-Yamamoto
Department of Orthodontics, Okayama University Dental School, Japan.

It has been reported that loading to the mandible during closing movement makes the condylar path move more in the superior direction than that during the free closing movement. In this study, the hypothesis was tested that the displacement of the condyle on the chewing side is greater in the direction of the mandibular fossa than that on the non-chewing side. Using a six-degrees-of-freedom jaw movement recording system, we recorded condylar motion in 12 healthy adults without TMD, during the chewing of a large hard gummy jelly. The maximum displacements at the condyle on the chewing side from the maximum intercuspation (CO) position were significantly larger in the superior and medial directions at the initial stage and in the posterior direction at all stages (0.5 mm, 0.5 mm, and 0.6 mm, respectively) than those on the non-chewing side (0.0 mm, 0.1 mm, and 0.1 mm, respectively). This suggests that, in healthy adults, the condyles at CO are located in a position such that excessive load is not applied to the temporomandibular joint when there are the aforementioned displacements.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Miyawaki, Y. Araki, Y. Tanimoto, A. Katayama, A. Fujii, M. Imai, and T. Takano-Yamamoto Occlusal Force and Condylar Motion in Patients with Anterior Open Bite J. Dent. Res., February 1, 2005; 84(2): 133 - 137. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]