Condylar bony change and self-reported parafunctional habits in prospective orthognathic surgery patients with temporomandibular disorders

Objective. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship be tween self-reported parafunctional habits and condylar bony change and disk displacement in orthognathic surgery patients with signs and symptoms of t emporomandibular joint disorders. Study design. This is a cross-sectional retrospective study of pretreatment helical computed tomography scans and questionnaires of 94 female orthogna thic surgery patients. Results. Condylar bony change, unilaterally or bilaterally, was found in 56 .4% of the subjects, or 43.6% of the joints, Disk displacement, unilaterall y or bilaterally, was seen in 59.6% of the subjects, or 45.7% of the joints . Bruxism and clenching was significantly associated with condylar bony cha nge and disk displacement. Subjects with 3 or more parafunctional habits sh owed a significantly higher rate of bilateral condylar bony change. Conclusion. Our results suggest that bruxism and clenching might be related to deterioration of the temporomandibular joint and that the greater the n umber of parafunctional habits a subject has, the higher the risk of condyl ar bony change.