hello all its dr. Alsup and in this dissection supplementary video we will
be discussing structures associated with the temporomandibular joint or as we like to refer
to it the TMJ the majority of our focus will be on the associated ligaments as well as cartilaginous
elements of the TMJ and less on the osteology as this will be covered in another video and we're
going to start with the articular capsule I'm going to outline it first and you can kind of see
that it's difficult to do so it's basically this region here that looks like connective tissue so
this will be the articular capsule with a little bit of ligament there and we'll talk about that
ligament in a moment but the articular capsule is going to be found in every single synovial
joint and the TMJ is a synovial joint so you'll have an articular capsule which serves to attach
the bones that form the articulation the capsule will encapsulate the articular or joint cavity and
in the case of the TMJ it also will encapsulate the articular disc so while the capsule is still
present or not dissected away like we have in this particular image you will not be able to
see the articular disc and you will also not be able to see the articulating bones which in the
case of T and J are the mandibular condyle and the fossa now it is very difficult to distinguish
the articular capsule from the lateral ligament and sometimes the lateral ligaments referred to
as the TMJ ligament so the articular capsule and the lateral ligament are very closely related it's
going to be right around this region here is going to be considered part of the lateral ligament as
well as portions of the capsule and as its name would suggest it will be closely related to the
lateral side of the articular capsule attaching the articular tubercle which is going to be over
here in this region to the neck of the consular process of the mandible this ligament based on
its placement is really important in terms of restricting posterior as well as lateral move
movement of the consulate process so making sure that you don't have wanted movements
in this region because the articular capsule and lateral ligament are so hard to differentiate some
sometimes darn near impossible we would not ask you to distinguish between these two structures
now let's locate an easier to identify ligament which is the stylo mandibular ligament I'm going
to outline it real quickly before we talk so this is going to be the stylo mandibular ligament this
is often consider reinforcing ligament of the TMJ so not playing much of a role in terms of
mechanical restraints of the joint this ligament is perfectly named as it extends from the styloid
process which would be up in this region to the ramus and the angle of the mandible and I don't
know what happened here with this box I apologize it shouldn't be there but it doesn't matter
because that's what we're focusing on this region anyway so the it's extending to the ramus and the
angle of the mandible now this the mandible and this particular dissection has been cut in order
to see portions of v3 and some of the maxillary artery but you can really see it extending to that
angle of the mandible here okay once you remove the lateral ligament in articular capsule as has
been done in this particular dissection you can see into the actual joint cavity and the TMJ and
so the joint the joint cavity you can see some of the black right here indicating space the TMJ is
going to have what's referred to as an articular disk and I'm going to draw an arrow to the
articular disc right there which is made of fibro cartilage and serves to separate this region into
two separate joint regions you're going to have the upper or sometimes referred to as the superior
synovial cavity which is going to be important in protrusion and retreat rusian approach protrusion
think jetting out the mandible kind of making it go anteriorly andr true genus bringing it back
and then the lower or inferior synovial cavity is going to be underneath the articular disc or
inferior to the articular disk and is important in elevation and depression of the mandible
lastly let's discuss the retro articular tissue sometimes refer to as the retro discal pad or zone
and I'm going to kind of circle around it what I always try to do is find the articular disc which
you can see really beautifully here and then go posterior to it and you see this area of kind of
loose tissue which contains neurovasculature and it's going to be posterior to the articular disc
which has been which you can clearly see right in that region this area is important because it's
often the site of edema in temporomandibular joint disorder so that's why there's a that's
why we need to know this particular structure all right so this wraps up our discussion of
structures associated with the temporomandibular joint which is obviously a very important area
when discussing mastication which is the focus of this session please make sure to take your own
time to review and let me know if you have any questions thank you for your time and attention