title: Stress analysis of the human temporomandibular joint.
abstract: Stress analysis of the human temporomandibular joint (TMJ) consisting of mandibular disc, condyle and fossa-eminence complex during normal sagittal jaw closure was performed using non-linear finite element analysis (FEA). The geometry of the TMJ was obtained from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The tissue proportion was measured from a cadaver TMJ. Contact surfaces were defined to represent the interaction between the mandibular disc and the condyle, and between the mandibular disc and the fossa-eminence complex so that finite sliding was allowed between contact bodies. Stresses in the TMJ components (disc, condyle and fossa-eminence complex), and forces in capsular ligaments were obtained. The results demonstrated that, with the given condylar displacement, the stress in the condyle was dominantly compressive and in the fossa-eminence complex was dominantly tensile. The cancellous bone was shielded by the shell shaped cortical bone from the external loading. The results illustrate the stress distributions in the TMJ during a normal jaw closure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis, 46202, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Akyuz
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pidaparti
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008961:Models, Structural; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013704:Temporomandibular Joint / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*