[Animal studies of the effects of distal occlusion on the TMJ].

In four adult monks of the "macaca fascicularis" genus we surgically shifted the mandible posteriorly by 5 mm in three animals and by 10 mm in one animal. After 83, 172, 273 and 354 experimental days, the animals were killed and the TM joints were prepared for patho-histological examination. Histomorphological changes could be observed above all in spongy and cortical bone situated close to the TMJ. There were no striking pathological findings, however, in condylar cartilage and the articular disk.