Condylar volume and surface in Caucasian young adult subjects

CBCT was used to measure the condylar volume, surface and the volume to surface ratio, called the Morphometric Index (MI), of 300 temporo-mandibular joints (TMJ) in 150 Caucasian young adult subjects, with varied malocclusions, without pain or dysfunction of TMJs.The condylar volume was 691.26 ± 54.52 mm3 in males and 669.65 ± 58.80 mm3 in, and was significantly higher (p< 0.001) in the males. The same was observed for the condylar surface, although without statistical significance (406.02 ± 55.22 mm2 in males and 394.77 ± 60.73 mm2 in females).Furthermore, the condylar volume (693.61 ± 62.82 mm3 ) in the right TMJ was significantly higher than in the left (666.99 ± 48.67 mm3, p < 0.001) as was the condylar surface (411.24 ± 57.99 mm2 in the right TMJ and 389.41 ± 56.63 mm2 in the left TMJ; t = 3.29; p < 0.01). The MI is 1.72 ± 0.17 for the whole sample, with no significant difference between males and females or the right and left sides.These data from temporomandibular joints of patients without pain or clinical dysfunction might serve as examples of normal TMJ's in the general population not seeking orthodontic care.Three-dimensional (3-D) Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) systems [1] produce images with high resolution (100-300 micron) and minimal distortion, that allows evaluating osteoarthrosis in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). It also allows for correlating the diagnosis to the age of the patient, [2,3] individuation of remodeling areas, [4] erosions, osteophytes, lines of fracture, bone resorption, [1] condylar displacement after orthognatic surgery, [5] or particular clinical evidences, such as the trifid condyle [6].CBCT provides a method to calculate the volume of the structure, which could be interesting from research and clinical points of view.First, from clinical point of view, the multiple image views and computer-generated 3-D models of patients could allow the diagnostician to better visualize the potential therapeutic effects before they ar