A study on etiopathogenesis and clinical features of multi-headed (bifid and trifid) mandibular condyles and review of the literature

Purpose

The formations of second or more condylar heads are considered as rare anomalies. Fourteen multi-headed condyles (MHC) were presented; 13 of these were bifid mandibular condyles (BMC), whereas one exceptionally rare case was a trifid mandibular condyle (TMC). The TMC presented in this paper is the eighth case reported in the literature. In this paper, etiopathogenesis, types, and treatments are discussed.

Materials and methods

Patients were classified according to their status, etiologies, gender, functions of the mandible, interocclusal distances, pathological conditions, types, and treatment received.

Results

BMCs were classified into two groups: type I BMCs were nontraumatic, nonsymptomatic, mediolateral, presumably developmental, and characterized by shallow grooves. Type II BMCs were traumatic and may have two subgroups. The first group of type II BMCs were mediolateral and Y-shaped. The second group of type II BMCs were characterized by two separate and anteroposteriorly located condyles.

Conclusion

Treatment depended on patients' complaints. In this study, asymptomatic patients did not receive therapy, whereas patients with temporomandibular join internal derangement received medical treatment, and patients with ankylosis had surgical treatment.