Normal TMJ bony relationships in centric occlusion.

In a preliminary investigation, condyle-temporal bone spatial relationships were determined quantitatively in 50 asymptomatic TMJs (25 subjects) by making area measurements of the posterior and anterior portions of the joint spaces. For both right and left sides, the numerical expression of the joint relationship indicated that the condyle is normally centered in the joint to a very high degree. Standard deviations around the mean joint relationship values were large, however, which suggests that the posteroanterior variation of condyle positions in asymptomatic TMJs is greater than commonly thought. In addition, there was only mild correlation between individual joint relationships on right and left sides.