Variation Of Horizontal And Vertical Condylar Angulation And
Its Efect On Tmj Tomographic Imaging
M.B. Hassanin, BDS, MS, PhD*; A. El-Zanaty, MB, BCh, MS, PhD**;
N. Khan, BS, MS, PhD*, H. Rosenberg, DDS***
* King Saud University College of Dentistry, P.O. Box 60169, Riyadh 11545, Saudi Arabia.
**College of Medicine, Banha University, Banha, Egypt.
***College of Dentistry, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA.
In this study, we examined the variation of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) horizontal and vertical condylar angles in 1,143 patients who were referred for tomographic evaluation of the TMJ. Both angles showed a wide range of variation with the mean right and left horizontal condylar angles being 24.2 and 25.3 degrees, respectively. The mean right and left vertical condylar angles were found to be 3.3 and 4.5 degrees, respectively. The horizontal and vertical condylar angles were measured on a dry skull with a prominent morphologic landmark (osteophyte). Corrected lateral cephalometric hypocycloidal tomograms were produced by compensation for the true horizontal and vertical condylar angles, and by varying each angle +2, -2, or +4, -4 degrees from the true measured angles. It was found that a slight variation of +2 or -2 degrees in either the horizontal or vertical condylar angles would affect the shape, size and anatomic relationships of the bony components of the TMJ. These results demonstrate the need for individual compensation of the horizontal and vertical condylar angles to obtain high quality diagnostic tomographic images of the TMJ.
Saudi Dental Journal
1995;7(2):70-76
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