ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oral Health
Sec. Oral Health Promotion
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/froh.2025.1655362
This article is part of the Research TopicCutting-Edge Technologies in Digital DentistryView all 3 articles
Application of individualized osteotomy and registration guide plate in temporomandibular joint gap arthroplasty: a pilot clinical study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- 2Department of Stomatology, People’s Hospital of Xiangyun Affiliated to Dali University, Xiangyun, China
- 3Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Affiliated Renji Hospital, Shanghai, China
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Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ankylosis compromises jaw mobility and overall function, with gap arthroplasty serving as the established treatment. Despite the adoption of navigation-assisted techniques, the accuracy of these procedures is often undermined by challenges in anatomical registration, particularly when relying on dental surface matching. This single-center study evaluated the use of a patient-specific osteotomy and registration guide plate in TMJ gap arthroplasty. Thirty patients with unilateral bony ankylosis were prospectively enrolled and randomly assigned to either a dental registration group (n = 18) or a guide plate group (n = 12). The guide plate group showed markedly shorter registration time (56.23 ± 11.33 s vs. 935.03 ± 85.40 s, P < 0.001) and lower target registration error (0.69 ± 0.10 mm vs. 2.82 ± 0.45 mm, P < 0.001).Postoperative mouth opening at three months was similar between groups (31.5 ± 4.23 mm vs. 31.33 ± 3.34 mm, P = 0.905). No major complications were recorded. The integration of a registration guide plate improved intraoperative efficiency and spatial accuracy without compromising outcomes. These results provide early clinical evidence supporting its use in TMJ arthroplasty. Broader validation and assessment of operator-related variability are still needed.
Keywords: Individualized Guide, TMJ arthroplasty, Ankylosis, Craniomaxillofacial surgery, Navigation-assisted surgery
Received: 27 Jun 2025; Accepted: 14 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Sun, Jiang, Zhou, Tian, Xia and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yuan Tian, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Affiliated Renji Hospital, Shanghai, China
Liang Xia, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Wenbin Zhang, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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