Eminence development of the postnatal human temporomandibular joint.

The objective of this study was to analyze postnatal eminence development quantitatively, as a first step in defining the relationship between loading of the TMJ and eminence development. A sample of human osteological remains provided the temporal bones of forty-nine (49) individuals of ages between birth and twenty years. An angular measurement technique permitted quantification of the degree of eminence development of each individual. It was concluded that: (i) the TMJ eminence reaches more than 50% of mature size, and exhibits mature morphology, by the time of completion of eruption of the primary dentition; (ii) the maximum velocity of development of the eminence takes place before three years of age; and (iii) the velocity of development of the eminence is reduced at about five years of age, and slowly diminishes to zero by the middle to late teens.