Management of surgical failures.
Surgical intervention is appropriate in a small percentage of patients with temporomandibular joint disorders when it is based on a specific diagnosis of intracapsular pathology not amenable to nonsurgical modalities. Expected advances in our understanding of the complex molecular, biochemical, and genetic factors that influence these disease states clearly will allow less invasive techniques and even obviate the need for some open arthroplastic interventions altogether in the future. In the meantime, reasonable, well-intentioned surgeons must rely on the current body of surgical knowledge to use surgery as judiciously as possible.
Quinn
Peter D
PD
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, 3400 Spruce Street, 5 White, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. peter.quinn@uphs.upenn.edu
Giannakopoulos
Helen
H
Carrasco
Lee
L