[Effect of right chewing-side preference on morphological temporomandibular joint changes].

Purpose: To explore the effect of right chewing-side preference on temporomandibular joint with cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).

Methods: Fifty-two patients who were diagnosed as right chewing-side preference were selected and scanned by CBCT in the intercuspal position. The interested region was chosen to reconstruct and the images of bony structure of TMJ at axial view, coronal position, sagittal position, oblique position parallelled to the long axis of condyle and oblique position vertical to the long axis of condyle were evaluated. The data was analyzed with SPSS12.0 software package for paired t test.

Results: There was significant difference between the habitual and unhabitual sides of the joint space of 60° and 90° at oblique position parallelled to the long axis of condyle (P
Conclusion: The results indicate that right chewing-side preference affects the morphology of temporomandibular joint. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.30772450) and the Nursery Fund of General Hospital of Chinese PLA (Grant No.09KMM11).