No abstract

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pathology has been an area of study in dentistry specificallyaresearchinterestinclinicalorthodonticsinwhichtreatmentoptionhasbeen adilemmaforpractitioners.Discussionbetween'dos'and'don'ts'ingrowthmodificationhasdrawnspreadhoweveroppositeopinionsfromdifferentschoolsofthoughtsin whethergrowthmodificationitselfisworking.Toprovideabetterillustrationofbiologi-calprocesswithinTMJ,thischapterdiscussedaspectsincludingoverallcondylargrowth; the histological structure of endochondral bone of condyle; extracellular factors that regulate proliferation, differentiation, hypertrophy, terminal maturation and apoptosis ofchondrocytes;andmolecularregulationoftheentireprocess.Anunderstandingofthe pathology,histology,cellularandmoleculareventsrelatedtothemorphologyandgrowth ofTMJformsthroughreadingoverthischapter;theemphasisofthemechanotransductionmediatorsandtheinfluenceofmechanicalstrainonthelevelofexpressionofgenes werepresentedindetails.Novelstudiesusingvirusvectorstimulatingcondylargrowth throughenhancingangiogenesiswithinatimelimitwerediscussed;alsoclinicalimplicationsintreatmentoptionsinrelationtomandibularadvancementwerebrieflycompared.