A systematic review of the clinical outcomes for various orthodontic and physiotherapy appliances used for the management of temporomandibular joint ankylosis

Sameer Malik; Paniz Haghighi; Jessie Cunningham; Kyle Stevens

doi:10.1016/j.jcms.2024.04.017

A systematic review of the clinical outcomes for various orthodontic and physiotherapy appliances used for the management of temporomandibular joint ankylosis

J Craniomaxillofac Surg. 2024 Apr 30:S1010-5182(24)00166-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jcms.2024.04.017. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Sameer Malik¹, Paniz Haghighi², Jessie Cunningham³, Kyle Stevens⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dentistry, Division of Orthodontics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Oxford Dental College and Hospital, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
² Department of Dentistry, Division of Orthodontics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Health Sciences Library, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Department of Dentistry, Division of Orthodontics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: kyle.stevens@sickkids.ca.

PMID: 38724290
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcms.2024.04.017

Abstract

Ankylosis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is associated with restricted mandibular movements, with deviation to the affected side. The management of TMJ ankylosis involves surgery to mitigate the effects of ankylosis, and adjunctive appliance therapy to supplement the results achieved through surgery. Several appliances have been used to help maintain jaw mobility postsurgery, but have been rarely documented in the literature. Our systematic review aimed to examine the clinical outcomes of various appliances for TMJ ankylosis management. A comprehensive electronic search of the literature was performed in July 2022 to identify eligible articles that had tested the use of orthodontic or physiotherapy appliances for the management of TMJ ankylosis. In total, 13 publications were included in the narrative synthesis. Both generic and custom-made appliances were used, with overall findings suggesting that using these appliances improved mouth opening and reduced chances of re-ankylosis. In this review no universally accepted appliance was found to be utilized, and the criteria used for appliance selection were unclear. The field of research in developing appliances for the treatment of TMJ ankylosis is open to advancement, and this review will help guide future research in this area.

Keywords: Orthodontic appliance; Re-Ankylosis; Systematic review; TMJ ankylosis; Temporomandibular joint ankylosis.

Publication types

Review