Side and Sexual Dimorphism of the Anterior Crest of the Mandibular Fossa

Abstract

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a complex and constantly moving part of the human body with over 2000 movements a day. Because of the joint's complex movements, symptomatic temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) occurs in 5–12% of the population. Prosthetics may be used to treat TMD; yet, with potential anatomic variation, prosthetics may suffer from not being specific enough to a patient. Identifying and categorizing anatomical variations may result in improved treatment. This study analyzed the anterior crest of the mandibular fossa by landmarking 40 equidistant points from the most medial to lateral aspects of the crest, on both the left and right sides of the crania. The points were used to compare both side and sexual dimorphism of the fossa's anterior margin. Principle component analysis showed that 84.0 % of morphological variance is accounted for by the first two principle components (PC1= 66.4% PC2= 17.6%). Canonical variate analysis showed a significant difference between the sexes and sides (Side: Mahalanobis distance= 2.5399, p<0.0001) (Sex: Mahalanobis distance= 1.7350, p<0.0001). The information assessed from this study provides insight with regard to side and sexual dimorphism of the anterior crest of the mandibular fossa. The results of this study may aid in creating a TMJ prosthetic with a higher success rate than the stock models available today.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.