[Actualities concerning frequency, etiopathogeny, and the diagnosis of temporomandibular osteoarthrosis]

On the basis of a vast reference list, and on the personal experience of the authors new opinions are presented, concerning the concept, the frequency, and the etiopathogeny of temporomandibular osteoarthrosis. Although the symptoms and signs of this morbid entity are frequently similar with those of other intracapsular affections, as a result of a combination of modern radiographic investigations (arthrotomography with double contrast, computerized scanner tomodensitometry, magnetic nuclear resonance), arthroscopy, macroscopic and microscopic examinations (biochemical analysis of the synovial fluid) it has become possible to make a positive diagnosis, as well as a differential one. The conclusions of the study have confirmed the evolution of a large number of experimental studies, both clinical and epidemiological, published in the specialized literature, which favor the detection and the removal of multiple risk factors involved in the development of this disease of degenerative origin, by a correct treatment, and by the use of prostheses.