[Clinical observation of TMJDS treated with pivot splint]

The pivot splint was applied to 50 patients with temporomandibular joint dysfunction syndrome that included 30 patients of anterior disc displacement without reduction, 12 patients of anteriordisc displacement with partial reduction and 8 patients of upward condyle displacement. The mouth opening and joint space of the TMJ tomographies before and after treatment were measured for each case. The results indicated that treatment with pivot splint was very effective for the patients with downward diplacemenr of the condyle. As a result, among 50 patients, 36 patients were cured (72%) and 14 patients were improved (28%). The results of 3 years follow-up indicated that original symptoms of the patients had no recurrence.