Stress analysis of the human temporomandibular joint.

Stress analysis of the human temporomandibular joint (TMJ) consisting of mandibular disc, condyle and fossa-eminence complex during normal sagittal jaw closure was performed using non-linear finite element analysis (FEA). The geometry of the TMJ was obtained from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The tissue proportion was measured from a cadaver TMJ. Contact surfaces were defined to represent the interaction between the mandibular disc and the condyle, and between the mandibular disc and the fossa-eminence complex so that finite sliding was allowed between contact bodies. Stresses in the TMJ components (disc, condyle and fossa-eminence complex), and forces in capsular ligaments were obtained. The results demonstrated that, with the given condylar displacement, the stress in the condyle was dominantly compressive and in the fossa-eminence complex was dominantly tensile. The cancellous bone was shielded by the shell shaped cortical bone from the external loading. The results illustrate the stress distributions in the TMJ during a normal jaw closure.