Tempomandibular joint and Muscles of Mastication

The efforts of the dentist to record the movements of the temporomandibular joint and to reproduce them on the articulator have been the chief stimulus for studies on the functional structure of this joint. Out of this have come many working hypotheses concerning the relationship between the joint and the dentition. Other aspects of the joint, however, have not been so thoroughly investigated. There is, for example, a great deal of knowledge in the orthopedic literature on synovial joints which is directly applicable to the temporomandibular joint, in spite of the unique features of this joint. The purpose of this book is to focus attention on those anatomic features which might provide a further basis for the clinical management of the temporomandibular joint in dentistry.