Prospective Evaluation of Temporomandibular Joint Pathologies in Scoliosis Patients With Ultrasonography and Clinical Examination

From the anatomical and functional point of view, stomatognathic system and spine have close connections. Together with the complex neuromuscular relationships, this creates an important area of cooperation between dentists and orthopedics (1). The cause of scoliosis has not been precisely explained, and various causes have been suggested in the literature, such as deviation from the standard growth pattern, neuromuscular tissue changes, asymmetric growth of the trunk, changes in the sagittal configuration of the spine, and environmental factors. In addition, scoliosis may develop secondary to each of hereditary musculoskeletal disorders such as osteogenesis imperfecta, Marfan syndrome, Stickler syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and muscular dystrophies.

Fonder et al. conducted case studies showing the relationship between dental occlusion and scoliosis (2). There are studies suggesting that temporomandibular joint (TMJ) diseases are observed more frequently with the effect of the head-neck muscle balance affected by scoliosis and the irregularities in the occlusion. At the same time, some studies have shown that patients with mandible changes (deviation, deflection, asymmetry…), which is one of the TMJ components, often have abnormal morphology in the cervical vertebrae (3). Ito G et al. They reported that body posture is closely related to the function of the head support system. The cervical spine and muscles play an important role in stabilizing the head posture and in the complex and various movements of the head (4).

There is no study in the literature comparing the severity of scoliosis and TMJ joint dysfunction radiologically and clinically.

In this study, TMJ of scoliosis patients was evaluated by ultrasonography and clinical examination; It was aimed to correlate the severity of scoliosis with joint dysfunction.