Temporomandibular joint total replacement prosthesis: current knowledge and considerations for the future

This paper provides a review of the current knowledge of temporomandibular joint total replacement systems. An electronic Medline search was performed to identify all the relevant English-language, peer-reviewed articles published during 1990-2006. Twenty-eight references were considered for review, seven of which were reviews, 17 clinical trials or case series, and four single-patient case reports. Therapeutic outcomes were encouraging for all three total prosthetic systems for which follow-up data from a consistent sample of patients exist. A lack of homogeneity between studies in patient selection and indications for the intervention was noted. A better integration between clinical and research settings is needed to achieve a standardized definition of the rationale and indications for total temporomandibular joint replacement. Findings from the available studies are promising, and need to be confirmed by multicenter trials taking into account interoperator variability.