Influence of tooth contact on the path of condylar movements.

The correlation between condylar inclination and tooth guidance was tested by comparison of recordings of condylar movement in right and left parasagittal planes during lateral excursion, opening, and protrusive movements in 13 subjects with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) clicks and 15 subjects without TMJ clicks. The characteristic tracing of mandibular movements at the condyle with tooth-guided versus non-tooth-guided conditions were investigated by use of a computerized Axiograph graph. The generated tracings of each subject were graphed and analyzed to calculate the horizontal condylar inclinations as related to the axis orbital reference plane. Information from a standardized questionnaire provided evidence of a definite correlation between the presence of TMJ clicking and a specific prior medical event (tonsillectomy). The data from computerized tracings of all subjects revealed no significant difference (p 0.05) in the mean angles of condylar guidance at any of the millimeter intervals examined regardless of whether the craniomandibular contact was an articulation of natural teeth or an articulation of maxillary natural teeth against a tray clutch. These results do not suggest that dynamic interarch tooth guidance or the change in vertical dimension reflect a significant alteration in the recordings of condylar guidance in clicking or nonclicking groups.