AN ASSESSMENT OF CONDYLAR KINEMATICS by CHRISTOPHER CHARLES PECK. BDS, University of Sydney, 1988 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN DENTISTRY THE FACULTY OF DENTISTRY THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEYAUTHOR’S STATEMENT This is to certify that the work presented was carried out by the candidate in the Neurobiology and Orofacial Pain Research Unit, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Sydney, and has not been submitted for a degree at any other university or institution. Coe. BX Christopher C PeckABSTRACT Most studies of condylar movement are based on the movement of an arbitrary condylar point. As the condyle is a 3-dimensional body which undergoes complex rotations and translations in function, the movement of one point in the vicinity of the condyle may not accurately represent condylar movement. The aims of this investigation were to determine in human subjects, during open-close and excursive jaw movements, the movement patterns of arbitrary and anatomical condylar points; and whether the trajectory of a single selected point can accurately reflect the movement of the condyle, In 44 subjects, condylar point movements were recorded with an opto-electronic tracking system (JAWS3D), which recorded the position of three light-emitting diodes attached to each dental arch, The primary point, selected to represent movement of the condyle, was 15 mm medial to the palpated lateral condylar pole, parallel to the Frankfort horizontal plane. Additionally, four points were selected along orthogonal axes in the sagittal plane, and four in the horizontal plane: each was 5 mm from the primary point. In two subjects, the mandibular condyles were imaged by computerised tomography (CT) and the lateral and medial poles, most superior, anterior and posterior points of their condyles were selected. The trajectories of each point were compared for each subject for the mandibular movements listed above. Variability in both path form and dimension was noted between the subjects for all mandibular movements. For example, in an open-close mandibular movement the condylar point translation varied in the antero-posterior direction between 1.8-22.8 mm, and in the supero-inferior direction between 4.5-12.1 mm, For each subject, the pathway of each point was different in form and dimension from that subject's other condylar points for the open-close, and ipsilateral lateral mandibular movements. For the open-close movement, in only four of the 44 subjects were the arbitrary point traces similar in form within a subject; and the tracings of each subject’s condylar points