Increasing the articular eminence by the use of blocks of porous coralline hydroxylapatite for treatment of recurrent TMJ dislocation.

Surgical operations are performed on some patients with recurrent dislocation of the temporomandibular joint. The surgical procedures applied are usually eminectomy and augmentation of the articular eminence. In this article, a surgical procedure for increasing the articular eminence using coralline porous hydroxylapatite is described. The implant is used as an interpositional bone graft placed into a gap created by an osteotomy of the articular eminence. Meniscoplasty is performed simultaneously as an additional operation. This procedure has been performed on eight TMJ's in five patients who had had severe recurrent dislocation. The immediate and further postoperative results were highly successful and no recurrence of dislocation was observed during this period of time.