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The Temporomandibular Joint Through the Lens of Comparative Anatomy

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Contemporary Management of Temporomandibular Disorders

Abstract

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a feature that distinguishes mammals from other vertebrates and to a lesser or greater degree have similar anatomic features (J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact, 3:391–394, 2003). Specifically, the head of the mandible and the squamous temporal bone are covered by a thin fibrocartilage layer and separated by a disc that bisects the joint into two noncommunicating compartments. However, despite these general anatomic similarities, the TMJ does exhibit profound functional differences across mammals, which are evolutionary adaptations to the species-specific demands placed on the joint.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Boaz Arzi

  2. Institute of Veterinary-Anatomy, -Histology and -Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany

    Carsten Staszyk

Authors
  1. Boaz Arzi
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  2. Carsten Staszyk
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Boaz Arzi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, San Francisco VA Health Care System, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    S. Thaddeus Connelly  & Rebeka G. Silva  & 

  2. Private Practice, Dental Implant and Oral Surgery of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    S. Thaddeus Connelly  & Rebeka G. Silva  & 

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Functional Anatomy Research Center (FARC), Universita degli Studi di Milano, Functional Anatomy Research Center, Milano, Italy

    Gianluca Martino Tartaglia

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Arzi, B., Staszyk, C. (2019). The Temporomandibular Joint Through the Lens of Comparative Anatomy. In: Connelly, S.T., Tartaglia, G.M., Silva, R.G. (eds) Contemporary Management of Temporomandibular Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99915-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99915-9_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-99914-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-99915-9

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