[Results of follow-up of temporomandibular joint fractures in 30 children].

Disturbances of facial growth and occlusion as well as temporomandibular joint dysfunction are possible sequelae of temporomandibular joint fractures in children. In a follow-up study we examined 30 children with conservatively treated condylar fractures of the mandible (age at time of accident from 9 months to 13 years) regarding dysfunction or growth disturbances within the stomatognathic system. The mean interval between the accident and the follow-up was 4 years and 11 months. We found 6 cases with tilted occlusional planes in the 'en face' analysis, 3 of them with bilateral condylar fractures. There was only one case with a facial asymmetry. The interincisive distance was never below 35 mm. Only 3 patients, all of them with bilateral condylar fractures, had a restricted mobility of the mandible. Remodelling of the condylar head was good in 92% of the cases. Two patients with bilateral fractures showed formation of a bifid condyle without ankylosis. Deviation of the ascending ramus in the horizontal plane was observed radiographically in 21% of the cases with unilateral fractures and in 33% with bilateral fractures respectively and always in a medial direction. Measurement of the length of the Processus articularis in the orthopantomogramm showed a shortening in 70% of the cases on the fracture side. The radiographic evaluation of facial asymmetry after Ricketts and Mulick only revealed an angle difference of more than 5 degrees in some cases.