Resolving the problems and controversies surrounding temporo-mandibular mechanics

The temporo-mandibular joint causes more problems than any other in the body and is the least understood with the high incidence of associated symptomatology remaining a major cause for concern. this lack of knowledge is partly due to the difficulties in acquiring information as it is not easy to access and practical and ethical constraints have ensured the almost complete absence of reliable in vivo data on joint loading and muscle forces. whilst the issue of joint compression was debated throughout much of the twentieth-century,it is now considered that short-comings in the underlying biomechanical theory and analysis have contributed to this uncertainty and stifled progress,and that a reassessment of mandibular motion from a different perspective could resolve this. © 2016 faculty of health and social sciences,university of south bohemia in ceske budejovice