Is there a greater mandibular movement capacity towards the left? Verification of an observation from 1921

Abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by Dr Trevor Watts

Abstract

Asymmetry appears to be the norm in mandibular movements.

Main

Türp JC, Alpaslan C et al. J Oral Rehabil 2005; 32: 242–247

In 1921, a Berlin dentist reported that the majority of individuals could move their mandibles more to the left than the right. In this study, mandibular movements of 141 right-handed healthy individuals (83 female) were compared with those of 141 patients with TMJ disorders (111).

TMJ patients had significantly less maximum jaw opening and left lateroversion than healthy subjects, but similar right lateroversion. In both groups, significantly more subjects were capable of greater left than right lateroversion.

The authors suggest that the effect is related to the development of the right lateral pterygoid muscle, which is known to be greater than the left muscle in right-handed individuals.