Condylar and disk position and signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders in stress-free subjects.
BACKGROUND
The authors conducted a study in subjects who tested free of psychological stress to determine the position of the condyle and whether that position was related to signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs).


METHODS
Forty subjects underwent psychological evaluation to ensure freedom from psychological stress. The authors evaluated tenderness of the masticatory muscles and temporomandibular joints (TMJs) by means of bimanual digital palpation, and they determined the positions of the condyle and disk by using magnetic resonance imaging.


RESULTS
A total of 23.75 percent of the condyles were displaced away from the centric position either anteriorly (3.75 percent) or posteriorly (20.00 percent). chi(2) analysis showed a relationship between the position of the condyle and displacement of the disk, as well as a relationship between the position of the condyle and tenderness of the TMJs.


CONCLUSIONS
Although these relationships proved significant, it cannot be assumed that displacement of the condyle away from the centric position is predictive of TMD.


CONCLUSIONS
Only two subjects were judged to have had TMJ internal derangement. Thus, the absence of psychological stress seems to have played a role in this finding.
Vasconcelos Filho
José Osmar
JO
Department of Oral Radiology, University of Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
Menezes
Alynne Vieira de
AV
Freitas
Deborah Queiroz de
DQ
Manzi
Flávio Ricardo
FR
Bóscolo
Frab Norberto
FN
de Almeida
Solange Maria
SM
D000328:Adult; D016302:Centric Relation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D004204:Joint Dislocations / Q000175:diagnosis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008335:Mandibular Condyle / Q000473:pathology*; D010173:Palpation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D019224:Temporomandibular Joint Disc / Q000473:pathology*; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000473:pathology*