Veronica Iturriaga; Thomas Bornhardt; Schilin Wen; Marco Avila & Mariano del Sol

The study of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) through imaging, is useful for the analysis of intra-articular procedures in view of its complex anatomy. Precise knowledge of the depth at which the TMJ is located is required to achieve an ideal puncture technique. The aim of this study was to measure the depth of the TMJ through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). A cross-sectional study was conducted, selecting 150 MRI of patients who attended the Polyclinic for TMD and Orofacial Pain. The variables analyzed were: 1) Depth of the right and left TMJ; 2) Age of the patients; and 3) Sex of the patients. Of the total MR, 114 corresponded to women with a median age of 23 years. The median depth of the right TMJ was 17.16 mm and median on the left side was 16.98 mm, there was no statistically significant difference (p> 0.05) but there was a strong correlation (r = 0.842 ). There were no differences between the depths and the sex of the patients in both the right and left TMJ. There was no correlation between age and depth of TMJ. In conclusion the depth of the right and left condyle are highly correlated, being approximately 17 mm according to the population studied. There is no association between patient age and condylar depth, and there are no differences in average according to sex.

KEY WORDS: Temporomandibular joint; Temporomandibular joint disorders; Morphology; Magnetic resonance.

ITURRIAGA, V.; BORNHARDT, T.; WEN, S.; AVILA, M. & DEL SOL, M. Mandibular condyle depth analysis in magnetic resonance of patients with temporomandibular disorders. Int. J. Morphol., 38(2):458-460, 2020.