Effects of condylar neck inclination and counterclockwise rotation on the stress distribution of the temporomandibular joint.

Abstract

Three different kinds of condylar inclination were manually modelled anteriorly inclined condylar neck, vertical condylar neck, and posteriorly inclined condylar neck. Three different maxillary impactions were simulated to evaluate the effect of counterclockwise rotation. The von Misses stresses of the disc, compressive stresses of the glenoid fossa, and compressive stresses of the condyle were the highest in the models with posteriorly inclined neck and lowest in the models with vertical condylar neck design. Stresses of the temporomandibular joint increase with the counterclockwise rotation of the maxilla-mandibular complex. The posteriorly inclined neck should be considered a risk factor for condylar resorption with increased counterclockwise rotation.