TEMPOROMANDIBULAR-JOINT PATHOSIS RELATED TO SEX, AGE, AND DENTITION IN AUTOPSY MATERIAL

The purpose of this autopsy study was to test the hypotheses that temp oromandibular joint (TMJ) arthrosis is more common in women than in me n, increases with age, and is more common in edentulous persons than i n those with natural teeth. Two hundred forty-eight TMJs removed at au topsy from 224 fresh cadavers were investigated macroscopically with d issection or cryosectioning. Age was found to be a significant factor in prediction of TMJ arthrosis (p < 0.001) and of disk perforation (p < 0.05). No significant association was found between morphologic chan ges in the TMJ and the factor of sex for the whole group. Disk displac ement and disk perforation were, however, more common in the joints of women than men in the group of persons 80 years of age or older (p < 0.05). There were significant associations (p < 0.001) between arthros is, disk displacement, disk deformation, and disk perforation. There w ere no statistically significant differences in the prevalence of morp hologic changes in the joints from persons with 10 or more natural tee th in each jaw compared with those from persons without natural teeth. The results of this study showed that TMJ arthrosis is more frequent in older than in younger persons. TMJ disk displacement generally appe ars necessary for the development of perforations. The findings of thi s study indicate that sex and dentition are not major factors for the development of TMJ pathosis in elderly individuals.