Response of Condylar Growth Cartilage to Induced Stresses

Abstract

The endochondral growth apparatus of the mandibular condyles, in contrast to epiphyseal plates of long bones, reacts positively to mechanical stimulation. Roentgenographic and histologic analyses of the joint structures of two experimental rhesus monkeys, when compared with untreated controls, showed obvious morphologic and structural transformations of the condylar heads as the result of the instituted treatment. Corollary differences were found in the ontogenetic and histogenetic pattern, as well as in the hormonal control, of these condylar growth centers.