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Review
. 2020 Dec 26;11(1):29.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11010029.

Is There an Association between Temporomandibular Disorders and Articular Eminence Inclination? A Systematic Review

Xiao-Chuan Fan  1 , Diwakar Singh  2 , Lin-Sha Ma  1 , Eva Piehslinger  3 , Xiao-Feng Huang  1 , Xiaohui Rausch-Fan  2
Affiliations
Review

Is There an Association between Temporomandibular Disorders and Articular Eminence Inclination? A Systematic Review

Xiao-Chuan Fan et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

(1) Background: In order to determine the correlation between the inclination of articular eminence (AEI) and the development of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), a systematic review was performed. (2) Methods: A systematic literature research was conducted between 1946 and January 2020, based on the following electronic databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, Scope, SciELO, and Lilacs. Observational studies, analytical case-control studies, and cohort studies written in English were identified. The articles were selected and analyzed by two authors independently. The PICO format was used to analyze the studies and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to verify the quality of the evidence. (3) Results: Sixteen articles were included in this review, ten case-control studies and six cohort studies. Eight articles (50%) established a positive relation between AEI and TMDs and eight (50%) did not. The scientific quality was medium-low, mainly influenced by the exposure to the risk of bias and the lack of clinical methods with adequate consistency and sensitivity on the diagnosis of TMDs. (4) Conclusions: It is controversial to establish a causal relationship between the TMDs and the AEI in the field of stomatology, due to limited and inconclusive evidence. However, it is suggested that the AEI defined by some specific methods may be associated with some special pathological stages of TMDs. High-quality prospective studies are required to draw any definitive conclusions.

Keywords: glenoid fossa; inclination of articular eminence; temporomandibular disorders; temporomandibular joint.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Search method, identification, selection, and inclusion of articles.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Representative images of “top-roof line” method, the articular eminence inclination (AEI) defined as the angle between the line connecting the crest point of the articular eminence and the roof of the mandibular fossa and the horizontal reference plane.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Representative images of the “best-fit line” method, the articular eminence inclination (AEI) defined as the angle between the tangent line drawn to the posterior slope of the articular eminence and the horizontal reference plane.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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