Lactnet friends, and in particular, Dr. Brian Palmer,

In the vein of the recent thread on pondering, I find myself wondering at
the "clamper" babies I have seen, wondering if perhaps something in the
direction of the forces brought to bear by a particular labor on the
temperomandibular joint of a newborn might be "locking" it in place so
that the baby cannot open the jaw to 130 degrees to suckle well, etc. and
so often ends up with the baby "clamping" on the mother's nipple, etc.

We have heard from some who favor CST, and I am just observing the
treatment of such a baby hoping to see a difference soon, since he is now
3 weeks old. I remember a retired dentist friend of mine telling me once
that the TMJ is the only joint in the body that articulates in 2 ways.
Enough pondering, I thought. Just for the heck of it, I'll google it to
see what some other disciplines have to say.

This is what came up on the very first hit. The article itself is in
French and over 25 years old, older than our profession BTW. But there is
an English abstract, with plenty of terms that I don't understand the
meaning of. But FWIW, I thought I would share it with my fellow
ponderers, and ask anyone who might be able to (especially Dr. Palmer),
to shed some light on it. In particular, note the last sentence.

Jean
************
K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC
Dayton, Ohio USA


Rev Stomatol Chir Maxillofac 1976 Jun:77(4)673-84

[The Temperomandibular Joint in the Newborn Infant-Oto-Meniscal
relations]

[Article in French]

Couly G, Guilbert F, Cernea P, Bertrand JC

"Although they are anatomically immature at the time of birth, the
temperomadibular joints are able to ensure efficient suction due to the
branchial blastema interposed between the two articular nuclei. This
conjunctive formation is the principle factor in the constitution of the
meniscus and its frena, the articular surfaces, the capsule and the
ligaments. This constitutes not only an embryological but a functional
entity.The joint runs the risk of paying heavily for this functional
availability, by its relationship with the ear-drum, which is a
potentially infectious cavity. In fact, at birth there is still evidence
of the original branchial continuum between the unknit tympanal and
squamosal in the shape of the posterior meniscal frenum, the
conjunctivo-vascular isthmus, which puts the vascularization of the
mucosa of the eardrum in commnication with the very rich vascularization
of the neonatal tempero-mandibular articulation. Therefore 1/3 of the
so-called congenital tempero-mandibular ankyloses, apparently without
cause, could probably be explained by the otomeniscal relationship
existing in the newborn baby and continuing in the first few months of
life in the atmosphere in the form of a conjunctivo-vascular link.
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