Tissue engineering of the temporomandibular joint disc: current status and future trends.

INTRODUCTION: Temporomandibular joint disorders are extremely prevalent and there is no ideal treatment clinically for the moment. For severe cases, a discectomy often need to be performed, which will further result in the development of osteoarthritis. In the past thirty years, tissue engineering has provided a promising approach for the effective remedy of severe TMJ disease through the creation of viable, effective, and biological functional implants. METHODS: Although TMJ disc tissue engineering is still in early stage, unremitting efforts and some achievements have been made over the past decades. In this review, a comprehensive summary of the available literature on the progress and status in tissue engineering of the TMJ disc regarding cell sources, scaffolds, biochemical and biomechanical stimuli, and other prospects relative to this field is provided. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Even though research studies in this field are too few compared to other fibrocartilage (e.g., knee meniscus) and numerous, difficult tasks still exist, we believe that our ultimate goal of regenerating a biological implant whose histological, biochemical, and biomechanical properties parallel native TMJ discs for clinical therapy will be achieved in the near future.

Esthetic and functional rehabilitation of a patient with nonsyndromic oligodontia: a case report from China.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: Oligodontia (severe partial anodontia) is a developmental dental anomaly. It is either an isolated trait or part of a syndrome. Oligodontia is characterized by the congenital absence of more than six permanent teeth except the third molars. Treatment often calls for facilitated surgical techniques, but less severe cases can be treated conventionally in a normally equipped dental office. CASE PRESENTATION: A case of oligodontia treated with prosthetic rehabilitation is presented in this article to remind clinicians of the anomaly. A medical history was taken and clinical and radiographic examinations were made. It is emphasized that conventional prosthetic treatment can lead to a satisfactory result. The patient was treated with fully extending denture prostheses. An overdenture was designed in the maxillary arch, while a removable partial denture was made in the mandibular arch. RESULTS: The patient's speech and masticatory function improved greatly. He was also pleased with better facial esthetics. Observed temporomandibular joint dysfunction also ameliorated after the treatment. CONCLUSION: Dental clinicians should keep in mind that there are good possibilities with conventional prosthodontic techniques to help patients with dental anomalies. Treatment not only improves speech and masticatory function but also has psychological implications that may greatly help in regaining self-confidence. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Patients suffering from oligodontia may have severe psychological, esthetic, and functional problems. Thus, early diagnosis and treatment of these patients are necessary.