# Recovery of Post-Traumatic Temporomandibular Joint after
## 2 Mandibular Fractures--General Concepts  
The mandibular fracture is one of the most common fractures of the face (70-80%) compared to any other bone of the cranium, and this is related mainly to the anatomical position of the mandible within the viscerocranium, the protruded position, mobility, as well as particular shape (v-shaped bone) and functions; it occurs as an effect of a strong blow to the lower jaw face (violence, traffic accidents, gunshot wounds, sports accidents, work accidents, and falls) [6,17, 18, 19]. Depending on the direction and force of the trauma, the most fractured areas of the mandible are as follows: the body (29%), followed by the condyle (26%), angle (25%), and symphysis (17%), the ramus (4%) and coronoid process (1%) and are often associated with other craniofacial, cervical, and systemic trauma [20,21]. In addition, the condylar process, coronoid, ramus, angle, body, symphysis, parasymphysis, and alveolar processes are the area most prone to mandibular fractures [6,17]. Mandibular fractures are classified according to the etiological factors, location, severity, muscle action, type of fracture, reducibility degree, inter-fragmental situation, the dentate or edentate status of the fractured segments. Moreover, the mandibular fractures may be open, close, displaced, pathological, and comminated [19]. Each anatomic-clinical subtype of mandibular fracture has a specific individualized management protocol, the choice of treatment method being conditioned by a series of factors such as the location of the traumatic lesion, existence of single/multiple fracture lines, associated jaw fractures, meaning and degree of bone fragment dislocation, the direction of the fracture line, the presence of teeth and the odonto-periodontal status, the shape of the teeth, the general condition as well as the age of the patient [18]. The primary objective of the treatment is to reconstruct the pre-injury dental occlusion, as well as the mandibular anatomy and jaw function. The therapeutic management consists of soft diet, closed reduction with intermaximillary fixation (bonded orthodontic brackets,arch bars, direct wires, eyelet wires), and open reduction with internal fixation (wires, plates, hard wares placed directly across the fractured site) [19; 22; 23]. The multitude of potential clinical situations of mandibular fractures makes it difficult to choose the optimal treatment technique. The emergence of new methods of orthopedic and surgical treatment, of devices for fixing fragments, and the requirements of patients for early rehabilitation for faster integration into society, also place specialists in the field in a dilemma in choosing the optimal treatment methods that would correspond to contemporary principles [18]. Maxillofacial fracture surgery can be followed by immediate and delayed complications. _Immediate_ complications are as follows: airway obstruction, bleeding, damage of teeth and/or bone, loss of teeth and/or bone. Delayed complications may include: infections (associated frequently with fractures are treated by open reduction), nonunion (osseous healing is lacking after 6 months in long bones and 12 weeks in the mandible, leading to fibrous union), malunion (incorrect position of the osseous union of the fractured segments), malocclusion, mandibular alveolar nerve damage (in mandibular fracture), temporomandibular disorders (_TMDs_) [19; 24; 25]. * Fractures of the mandibular condyle are directly related to the chronic TMDs due to progressive joint degeneration followed by articular disc dislocation, synovitis, and osteoarthritis. * Condyle fractures represent 37% of the mandible fractures and can be extracapsular or intracapsular, undisplaced or displaced, deviated, or dislocated [10]. The effects of trauma in non-condylar mandibular fracture on the TMJ are yet poorly studied [10]. Two studies reported mandible trauma as a major factor of TMDs when adult patients with a non-condylar mandibular fracture were compared to healthy patients [10].