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Figure 1. Analysis of the stress-field paths. An example of the stress-field paths is shown for clicking TMJ #03 in an oblique craniocaudal (A) and oblique sagittal view (B). Compressive stresses are distributed over an area the mean radius of which is marked a (A). The minimum condyle-fossa distance at the centroid of the stress-field is represented by h (B). The position of the centroid of the stress-field depends on the congruency of the articulating surfaces and on their instantaneous spatial relationship. The cone tips indicate the instantaneous position of the stress-field centroid. The stress-field paths differed strongly between jaw opening and closing, moving in the medial joint portion during opening and in the lateral joint portion during closing. For quantitative analysis, the stress-field path was divided into segments by planes parallel to the oblique-coronal YZ plane, set at distances of 1 mm between each other. For every segment resulting from the intersection of two planes with the stress-field path, the spread s was the maximal deviation in mm of the values of the Y-coordinates.
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