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Review
. 2024 Nov 8;12(11):357.
doi: 10.3390/dj12110357.

The Temporomandibular Joint and the Human Body: A New Perspective on Cross Talk

Marwa M S Abbass  1   2 , Dina Rady  1   2 , Sara El Moshy  1   2 , Israa Ahmed Radwan  1   2 , Al-Hassan Soliman Wadan  3 , Christof E Dörfer  4 , Karim M Fawzy El-Sayed  2   4   5
Affiliations
Review

The Temporomandibular Joint and the Human Body: A New Perspective on Cross Talk

Marwa M S Abbass et al. Dent J (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: As a unique joint that facilitates the articulation of the upper and lower jaws, the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is concerned with several critical functions, such as speech and mastication. Pain that can become incapacitating is a result of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), which are complex disorders affecting the masticatory muscles and the TMJ. Several anomalies and TMDs have an interdisciplinary relationship. Complementary and concurrent disorders may be caused by occlusal anomalies, psychological disorders, and changes in spine posture. Methods: This article examines the clinical characteristics of TMDs, their classification, their etiological factors, and the impact of TMJ disorders on the human body with reference to their anatomies and histological structures. Results: The clinical picture of some TMJ pathologies may be unknown, so certain biomarkers, such as cytokines, may be useful for an accurate diagnosis as they are frequently seen in TMJ disorders. Furthermore, novel therapeutic approaches that target pro-inflammatory cytokines and treat TMDs by using tissue engineering and regenerative medicine while permitting TMJ cartilage and bone regeneration may offer numerous benefits that require clinical translation. Conclusions: Implementation of recent modalities such as microvesicles and platelet-rich plasma in growth factors may provide a promising approach to enhance bone formation. In addition, we target different biological markers that give insights into the introduction of new pharmaceutical agents for therapy.

Keywords: TMD-related systemic diseases; biomarkers; microvesicles; platelet-rich plasma; temporomandibular joint disorders; therapeutic approaches.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A histological picture of the TMJ of a normal rat showing (A) the mandibular condyle (Cond), biconcave articular disc (D), and temporal bone (T). (B) The condylar head has four zones: the fibrous zone (F), proliferative zone (P), fibrocartilaginous zone (FC), and calcified cartilage zone (CC) or hypertrophic zones and subchondral bone (Sb). The tidemark (TM) and bone marrow space (m) [10,18].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Classification of temporomandibular joint disorders (Tanaka et al., 2008; Salamon and Casselman, 2020) [30,31].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) disease.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pathogenesis of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Biological markers involved in temporomandibular disorder pathogenesis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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