Objective: To investigate the effect of elastic pivot stable bite plate on treating irreducible temporal bone displacement of the temporomandibular joint.
Methods: Twenty-eight cases of irreducible temporal bone displacement of the temporomandibular joint treated with the elastic pivot stable bite plate from 2000 to 2004 were summarized. The ages of the patients ranged from 15 to 58 years including 11 men and 17 women.
Results: All the patients were treated for 1 month and followed up for 3 to 6 months. The effective rate was 87.51%. The patients who had shorter course of diseases obtained better effect than the patients who had longer courses of diseases.
Conclusion: Elastic pivot stable bite plate is an effective alternative for treating irreducible temporal bone displacement of the temporomandibular joint and it exerts better effect on the patients that have short courses of diseases.