[A study of how to distinguish the occurring side of TMJ noise--multiple click].

Patients with TMJ dysfunction often suffer from TMJ noise. However, determining the side at which the noise occurs is not always easy in auscultation or when picking up the noise electrically, because the sound is carried across the bony structure and picked up on both sides. To solve this problem, we utilized a three-directional accelerometer, measuring the sound on both sides in the hope that a difference in measurements would identify the side of the noise. We discovered that time difference between the acceleration peaks for the side originating the sound was shorter than that of the other side. Our report also contains a few observations on the result of this study on patients with plural TMJ noises occurring during one movement of the mandible.