Comparison of skeletal and dental morphology in asymptomatic volunteers and symptomatic patients with unilateral disk displacement with reduction

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of unilateral disk displacement with reduction (UDDR) on the skeletal and dental pattern of affected individuals. There were 18 symptomatic female patients and 46 asymptomatic normal female volunteers. All study participants had bilateral high-resolution magnetic resonance scans in the sagittal (closed and open) and coronal (closed) planes to evaluate the temporomandibular joints. Linear and angular cephalometric measurements were taken to evaluate the skeletal, denture base, and dental characteristics of the two groups. Analysis of variance was used to compare the symptomatic with the control subjects. A few skeletal differences were found. There was an overall reduction in length of the anterior (S-Na) and posterior (S-Ba) cranial base measurements in the UDDR group. The cranial base angle was also increased. Both upper and lower dentures bases were retropositioned. The posterior ramal height (Ar-Go) was shorter in the symptomatic group. This study showed that alterations in skeletal morphology may be associated with UDDR. The mechanisms that produce DD or the mechanisms that cause this skeletal alteration are yet to be clarified. This study suggests that subjects with UDDR may manifest altered craniofacial morphology. The clinician should be aware of this possibility, especially for growing patients.