effect of different dietary consistency on mandibular condyle of young and adult rats

ABSTRACT

Three groups of young growing rats and three groups of adult mature rats were fed on diet which differed in physical consistency for periods 4 and 12 weeks, respectively. The effects of these differences in dietary consistency on gross and histologic structure on mandibular condyle were examined. There were changes in all zones of the condylar cartilage in both growing and mature rats. Such changes are considered a temporomandibular joint environmental functional adaptation. There were full recovery in all zones of the condyle in young rats fed a soft/hard diet in comparison with mature rat. The data presented here suggested, that increasing age may diminish the capacity of the TMJ to adapt to altered function and consequently may play a significant role in the development of degenerative joint disease. From this study, it is concluded that the daily diet should be a combination of soft and hard consistency, especially for growing children for providing normal growth of the craniofacial region as well as TMJ