Splint therapy evaluation with direct sagittal computed tomography.

Splint therapy is often the initial nonsurgical treatment selected to manage patients who have anterior displacement of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) meniscus. It is usually effective if the splint restores normal meniscocondylar relationships. An accurate method for assessing meniscocondylar relationships by means of direct sagittal computed tomography (CT) is described. The precise protocol for this noninvasive CT method and the criteria used to interpret the CT images are presented.