engleski

Differences in articular-eminence inclination between medieval and contemporary human population

Purpose: Temporomandibular joint morphology, and consequently, articular eminence inclination depend on the functional and mechanical properties of the craniofacial skeleton. In terms of prosthodontics, values of articular-eminence inclination are important in construction, and adjustments of articulators. But, little is known about the articular eminence inclination in medieval human population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the values of, and differences between the articular-eminence inclination of medieval and contemporary human population. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out on two dry skull groups. The first group consisted of 30 dry skulls from the early medieval culture groups (ME) of Croatia (4 subgroups), and the other consisted of 137 recent dry skulls from the osteologic collection of the Institute of Anatomy (IA) in Zagreb. The articular-eminence inclination was measured in relation to the Frankfurt horizontal plane on digital images of the skull’s two lateral views using VistaMetrix 1.38 computer software. Results: No statistically significant (p>0.05) differences between left and right side inclinations were found among ME skulls, and IA skulls. The mean measured value of articular-eminence inclination among IA skulls (61.99º) was statistically significantly higher (p<0.05) than mean articular-eminence inclination value (45.4º) of ME group. Among ME cultural groups, mean value of articular-eminence inclination from Radasinovci cultural subgroup (52.98º) was statistically significantly higher (p<0.05) than mean articular-eminence inclination values from other ME cultural subgroups. Conclusions: Values of articular-eminence inclination vary a lot. Differences between left and right side inclinations were insignificantly but confirmed natural left–right side’s asymmetry. Values of articular-eminence inclination differ between IA and ME groups, as well as between ME subgroups, probably due to different type of food consumption in medieval time, and consequently different masticatory loads, and forces.

temporomandibular joint; articular-eminence inclination; medieval population; contemporary population

nije evidentirano