USE OF FREEZE-DRIED DURA AS A MENISCUS REPLACEMENT IN TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT SURGERY.

Freeze-dried allogeneic dura has been used in various types of reconstructive oral and maxillofacial surgical procedures as a soft tissue replacement. In the treatment of temporomandibular joint bony ankylosis by gap and interpositional arthroplasty, freeze-dried dura has been used by Boyne as a substitute for alloplastic materials such as silastic. In order to evaluate the use of freeze-dried dura as a replacement for the meniscus removed for internal derangements of temporomandiular joints presenting with non-ankylosed and functioning condyle heads, a series of 22 cases were operated presenting with preoperative signs of temporomandibular joint meniscus abnormalities and or perforations.