[A quantitative study of TMJ sounds. 1. A systematization on frequency analysis of clicking sounds]

TMJ clicking sound is a sign worth noticing as prodromal symptoms of TMJ dysfunction. Therefore, a solution of its characteristics is an important matter to grasp the diagnosis of stomatognathic function and progress of the disease. We try to systematize the procedure from picking-up TMJ sound to convertion of frequency and then investigate picking-up method and the measurement apparatus, because we need a quantitation of acoustical components of clicking sound to examine the influence of hearing ability due to TMJ dysfunction. The following were obtained: 1. Low frequency noise is reduced by using headgear with microphone located in a external ear. 2. We pick up continuous 30 TMJ sounds three times in separate days. The waveforms of each set are approximately similar. 3. Each peak frequency and pattern of power spectrum examined three times show high correspondence. 4. The range of maximum peak frequencies in all subjects are from 0 to 0.8 KHz.