Page 183 - Demo

Animal experiment: Radiological analysis of the LPM reattachment1817Fourteen sheep (Swifter crossbreed) were acquired after gaining ethical committee approval (License nr. LA 1210576) for the study (code of approval EC MxCl 2018-090). All ewes were between 2 and 5 years of age, weighed between 52 and 86 kg (average weight, 73.4 kg), and had no teeth missing (Table 1). The ewes were allowed to move freely in a meadow up until the day of surgery. After the surgery, they were kept in solitary confinement for 1 week. After this first week, they were put together in a larger indoor confinement area.In the first series of surgeries, two sheep were operated upon in April 2018. An animal-specific unilateral TMJR was placed in one sheep. The other sheep was used for the sham surgery. The sham surgery consisted of the same surgical approach with dissection of the joint, but no implant was placed nor was a condylectomy performed. We did not include the sham in this article, as the LPM was left intact. The 12 other sheep were operated upon 2 months later, after the surgical technique was optimized based on the experience with the first two sheep. Fig. 1: Fused deposit three-dimensional model of a partial sheep's skull with the total temporomandibular joint replacement (TMJR). Red arro Mandibular component of the TMJR; green arro ultra-high-molecular weight polyethylene component of the TMJR fossa component; black arro titanium component of the TMJR fossa component.Nikolas de Meurechy NW.indd 181 05-06-2024 10:14