CORRELATION BETWEEN ARTHRITIC CHANGES IN CERVICAL VERTEBRAE AND TMJ

Abstract

Introduction Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common pathologic conditions affecting the cervical spine and other joints, including the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). There are various theories regarding the etiology of vertebral and joint degeneration, the most common being physiologic degeneration with increasing age. Typically, degeneration is restricted to a specific joint, but often when there is a transfer of load, there could be degenerative changes associated with joints in the vicinity as a result of a compensatory load transfer mechanism. Therefore, there is a possible correlation between arthritic changes in the cervical vertebrae and those in the TMJ. Objective The objective of this study was to retrospectively evaluate cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans to study the relationship between the presence/absence of degenerative changes in the cervical vertebrae and its relationship to arthritic changes in the TMJ. Materials and Methods A total of 150 CBCT scans from the archives of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology at the School of Dental Medicine, University of Connecticut, were evaluated for this study. Inclusion criteria were scans that had the TMJ bilaterally and at least the cervical vertebrae C1 to C4 in the field of view. The scans were scored for the presence or absence osteoarthritis in both TMJs and their severity by using the Weishaupt/Pathria grading classification. Results Of the 150 scans analyzed, 72% showed a correlation between the presence/absence of both cervical spine and TMJ osteoarthritis, whereas the remaining 28% did not show any association or correlation. Of the 72%, only 0.4% showed a linear relationship between osteoarthritis of both joints based on the degree of severity. Conclusions A large percentage of the scans showed a correlation between the presence/absence cervical spine osteoarthritis and TMJ osteoarthritis, but no relationship based on their degree of their severity. A larger sample size must be evaluated, as the next logical step, to further understand this relationship.