Four patients with temporomandibular joint ankylosis, three bilateral, one
unilateral, were treated successfully by using the technique of silicone ca
p arthroplasty. Among these patients two were recurrent cases. Mean maximum
incisal opening distance was 6.0 mm preopera tively and 24.7 mm postoperat
ively. In the follow-up period ranging between 19 months and 5 years, all o
f the patients had satisfactory mouth opening for chewing and speaking with
out any reankylosis. We believe that the silicone cap provides a satisfacto
ry range of motion and prevents cortical callus formation across the cap by
wrapping around the mandibular stump: this reduces the risk of reankylosis
. The simplicity and the short duration of the operation as well as the non
existence of an additional scar are other reasons for preferring this metho
d. Furthermore, the silicone cap arthroplasty technique has the advantage o
f controlling the amount of bone removal thus decreasing the risk of the de
velopment of a short ramus.