Body posture during sleep and disc displacement in the temporomandibular joint: a pilot study.

Many possible factors associated with internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) have been discussed, but the causal factors remain unproven. The present study aimed to investigate habitual body posture during sleep (HBP) of patients with anterior disc displacement (ADD) in the TMJ. The sample comprised 87 patients (12 males, 75 females) aged 13-68 years (mean 25 years) and diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging as having unilateral or bilateral ADD in the TMJ. The HBPs were classified into five categories: supine, prone, right lateral, left lateral, and no-dominant positions. Of the 50 patients with the unilateral ADD, 33 (66%) had the ipsilateral HBP to the affected joint while none (0%) had the contralateral HBP. This contrast showed that the HBP was a possible contributing factor to the ADD. It was suggested that HBP allows the ipsilateral condyle to displace posteriorly and this posterior position causes relative ADD.