ToothOrientationduringOcclusionandtheFunctional.PDFVIP

11 Tooth Orientation during Occlusion and the Functional Significance of Condylar Translation in Primates A. W. Crompton and Herbivores Daniel E. Lieberman, and Sally Aboelela Introduction The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in carnivores is a ginglymoid (hinge) joint in which the preglenoid and postglenoid processes limit an- teroposterior movements of the mandibular condyle, permitting almost exclusively rotation around a transverse axis (Becht, 1953; Maynard Smith Savage, 1959; Noble, 1973; Freeman, 1979; Crompton, 1981). In contrast, the TMJ in anthropoid primates and several orders of special- ized herbivores (Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla) is a diarthroidal joint that permits the mandibular condyles not only to rotate around a trans- verse axis but also to slide anteroposteriorly (“translate”) relative to the glenoid fossa during jaw closure and opening. In a study on goats, De Vree and Gans (1975) pointed out that lateral shifts of the mandible in animals with a diarthroidal TMJ must occur by the translation of one condyle in its fossa coincident with rotation of the opposite condyle about a vertical axis through the second fossa. There is little precise information on how the active and balancing side condyles move relative to the glenoid fossae during a masticatory cycle. Weijs (1994) claimed that, during closing, me- dially directed movement of the working side mandible is essentially a pure rotation around the working side condyle, which is braced against the postglenoid flange. Extensive transverse jaw movements obviously re- quire an anteroposteriorly long glenoid. However, it is not obvious why both condyles move anteriorly during opening and posteriorly (at differ- ent rates) during closing given that medial and lateral movement of the mandible can be accomplished by rotating the mandible about a station- ary working side condyle that