[Effect of an experimentally-induced lateral occlusal disorder on cell proliferation in the condylar cartilage of the rat temporomandibular joint].

The effect of experimentally induced restricted lateral guidance of the lower jaw of growing Wistar rats on the proliferation of cells in the condylar growth zone was studied. Based on the results of this micro-autoradiographic investigation using 3H thymidine, and in view of the simple and reproducible test procedure, the proposed model of a lateral occlusal disturbance is described for animal experiments dealing with initial processes of biomechanical interference with condylar growth.