Functional Anatomy of the Masticatory

System, Part 1
The TMJ
 The clinician who only looks at teeth
occlusion is missing as much as the clinician
who never looks at occlusion
 The human mandible functions as a basic
Class III lever system in which the fulcrum
point (temporomandibular joint) is above and
behind the lever arm (mandible and teeth),
and where the force (muscle action) is applied
between the fulcrum and the resistance area
(the food bolus)
 The fulcrum (TMJ) of this Class III lever
system being placed above and behind the
occlusal plane facilitates the wide range of
lateral jaw movement seen in humans.
The temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) is a
ginglymoarthrodial joint between the
tubercles of the squamous portion of the
temporal bone and the condyles of the
mandible.

The temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) is a

compound joint

The temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) is a

Synovial joint
• Ginglymus joint or Hinge joint is a synovial joint
that allows movement in only one plane.
Examples are the elbow and the interphalangeal
joints of the digits.

• Arthroidal joint or Gliding (Sliding) joint or

plane joint a synovial joint in which the opposed
surfaces are flat or only slightly curved, so that
the bones slide against each other in a simple
and limited way. The synovial intervertebral
joints are gliding joints, and many of the small
bones of the carpus and tarsus meet in gliding
joints.
The TMJ is unique in that :
 It is an articulation between two convex
surfaces… Requires an intervening fibrous
biconcave meniscus to provide the hinge
element.

 The articulating surfaces are covered with

dense avascular fibrous tissue rather than
cartilage.
 Although it is a bilateral joint system, the
individual parts are not capable of
independent movement.

 It has the dentition as an additional important

determinant of movement.
 The functional Components of
temporomandibular articulation are:

The articulating surfaces

The ligaments
The musculature
 The articulating surfaces allow a path of motion.
(Bone to Bone relation)

The attached ligaments have the responsibility to

limit movements. (Restriction to Forward and
Downward direction)

The articular disc separates the bones from direct

contact.
 The disc is attached to the condyle both
medially and laterally by collateral ligaments.
These ligaments permit rotational movement
of the disc on the condyle during opening and
closing of the mouth. (A hinge joint with a
movable socket)

And this condyle-disc complex translates out

of the fossa during extended mouth opening.
 In the normal joint, rotational movement
occurs between the condyle and the inferior
surface of the disc during early opening (The
inferior joint space) and translation takes
place in the space between the superior
surface of the disc and the fossa (The superior
joint space) during later opening.
 Transcranial radiograph of
TMJ

White arrows: Articular tubercle.

Green arrows: Head of condyle.
Red arrows: Glenoid fossa.