POSITION OF HEADS OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT IN PATIENTS WITH MALOCCLUSION

This article describes the assessment of the condition, symmetry of temporomandibular joint and timely diagnosis of its dysfunction based on to H. Gelb method in malocclusion. The objective of this study was to investigate the position and assess the symmetry of the temporomandibular joint heads according to H. Gelb in cases of malocclusion. Materials and мethods. The study was based on analysis of computed tomographs of 70 patients with malocclusion. Depending on the stage of the occlusion development, the patients were divided into two groups: I group included 30 patients with mixed dentition and II group included 40 patients with permanent dentition. Results. The results obtained demonstrated that regardless of the pathology of the occlusion and age, only 8 patients had the correct bite, i.e. the symmetrical position of the temporomandibular joint heads in the Gelb 4/7 position. The most frequent symmetric position of the articular heads in the patients of the I group I was the Gelb ¼ position found in 16 patients; the Gelb 1/5 position was revealed in 8 patients of the II group that can be explained as age-related changes in the displacement of the articular heads from the Gelb 1/4 to 1/5 position. Conclusions. According to the results of our research, it was found that regardless of the malocclusion and age, patients who have the correct position of the temporomandibular joint heads on the left and right in the Gelb 4/7 position make up only 10.52%. The age-related dynamics of the rotational displacement of the centre of the articular heads from the Gelb 1/4 to 1/5 position has been observed, and the number of patients with the asymmetric position of the temporomandibular joint articular heads is increaing.