Prosthetic replacement of the condylar head for temporomandibular joint disease.

Temporomandibular joint replacement was performed in 8 adults who had intraarticular ankylosis, 6 who had end-stage osteoarthritis, and 12 who had rheumatoid arthritis. Three methods of replacement were used; an ulnar head prosthesis (8 patients), an interpositional implant (11 patients), and a Proplast-coated metallic prosthesis (7 patients). The mean age of the 26 patients (19 women and 7 men) at surgery was 38 years (range 17 to 58 years), and the mean follow-up was 36 months (range 3 to 84 months). Relief of pain was experienced by 23 patients, and maintenance or improvement of incisal opening was experienced by 21. Prosthetic replacement of the condylar head for end-stage disease is highly successful in the patients for whom it is indicated.