One stage treatment of temporomandibular joint complete bony ankylosis using total joint replacement

INTRODUCTION: Temporomandibular joint ankylosis is a joint disorder due to bone or fibrous adhesion of the joint components that cause loss of function. There are many causes, such as trauma, infections and systemic diseases. To date, no uniform treatment protocol has been established. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We enrolled in the study patients that underwent single stage alloplastic total joint replacement for complete bony ankylosis. The subjective and objective variables were as follow: TMJ pain, diet, jaw function, quality of life, maximum interincisal opening (MIO) and occlusion. The minimum follow-up was 12 months. RESULTS: 12 patients met the inclusion criteria. Six patients underwent bilateral or monolateral total joint reconstruction with stock prosthesis, six patients underwent bilateral total joint reconstruction with custom made prosthesis. The mean preoperative MIO was 7.9 mm. The mean MIO reordered at 12-month follow-up was 26.5 mm (P < 0,0001). The occlusion was unchanged in 9 patients out of 12. In two patients the occlusion was changed by means of custom prosthesis design. In one patient occlusion worsened with less stable functional contact. Quality of life and diet relevantly improved in all cases. CONCLUSIONS: Single stage resection and reconstruction with total alloplastic TMJ reconstruction is an effective and reliable method to reestablish stable long-term mandibular function in ankylotic patients.