Progress in the materials, design and related technique clinical application of temporomandibular joint prosthesis / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE:To summarize the materials, design, fit-shape and fixation techniques and clinical application of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) prosthesis.DATA SOURCES: An online search was undertaken to identify English articles about TMJ prosthesis published in Pubmed database from January 1998 to December 2006 using the key words of "temporomandibular joint, joint prosthesis".STUDY SELECTION: The collected literatures about TMJ prosthesis were sorted, and those with good pertinence were selected. For the literatures of the same field, those published recently or in authorized journals were selected.DATA EXTRACTION: Totally 69 literatures were collected, 28 were enrolled, and the other 41 were excluded, including 23 were irrelative with the aim of this study, and 18 were repetitive studies.DATA SYNTHESIS: Joint prosthesis is one of the fields that develop the fastest in orthopedic surgery in recent 30 years.TMJ replacement aims to enhance the function of TMJ, alleviate pain, and prevent serious complication. With the rapid developments of material science, tissue engineering, joint biomechanics and other related subjects, TMJ prosthesis has been significantly improved in the materials, design, fit-shape and fixation techniques. People have developed from simply imitating the outline form and mechanical motor of TMJ to pay more attention to its pathological function. It is very significant to trace the new progress in hip prosthesis and knee joint, and apply the good outcomes in the design and manufacture of TMJ prosthesis.CONCLUSION: Prosthetic material plays leading and promoting roles in the development of joint prosthesis, good design,fit-shape and fixation are the necessary conditions for prosthesis to act its role, and it is also necessary to investigate joint biomechanics. TMJ prosthesis should be further investigated, and it has good prospect.