AN EVALUATION OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINTS AND JAW MUSCLES AFTER ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT INVOLVING PREMOLAR EXTRACTIONS

Experimental subjects (n = 29) were patients who had undergone orthodontic treatment in combination with extraction of maxillary or mandibular premolar teeth, or both. Control subjects (n = 29) were healthy dental students with no orthodontic or extraction experience. Sagittal (corrected axis) tomograms of the TMJs were used to determine the narrowest linear distances between the anterior and posterior outlines of the TMJ condyle and the TMJ fossa, expressed as the joint space ratio. There were no significant (p < 0.05) differences between the control and experimental ratios. Bipolar surface electromyograms of the masseter and anterior temporalis muscles were used to determine the isometric contraction velocities of these muscles until 50% and 100% voluntary isometric contraction effort (teeth clenching) was achieved. There were no significant (p < 0.05) differences between the control and experimental subjects. Electromyograms were also used to determine the relative contribution of the masseter and anterior temporalis muscles to the bite force developed during brief maximum voluntary tooth clenching, expressed as the activity index. There were no significant (p < 0.05) differences between the control and experimental subjects.