For the Clinician
The TMJ Scale™ and the Chronic Pain Battery™ are two state-of-the-art assessment and management tools that have been in use for many years by clinical practitioners and researchers in the fields of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and chronic pain.
The TMJ Scale™
The TMJ Scale has been widely used since 1986 by dentists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, psychologists, physicians and pain specialists involved in the evaluation and treatment of patients having temporomandibular joint disorders and craniofacial pain (TMD/CP). The test, used on hundreds-of-thousands of patients is based on research which has been widely published in the J of Craniomandibular Practice; the J of Orofacial Pain; the J of Prosthetic Dentistry; the J of Clinical Orthodontics; the American J of Orthodontics; Headache Quarterly; the J of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Radiology and Endodontics; and others. See the Scientific Publications section.
The TMJ Scale is a self-administered symptom inventory entirely completed by the patient. It is appropriate for patients age 13 or over and with an eighth grade reading level. It takes patients about 10-15 minutes to complete the 97 test items. The test organizes symptoms into 10 subscales, including: pain, palpation pain, perceived malocclusion, joint dysfunction, range of motion limitation, non-TMD factors, psychological factors, stress and chronicity. A Global Scale summarizes the physical symptoms and is the most accurate indicator of the presence of TMD/CP. The test does not make specific diagnoses, but can help you to make diagnostic decisions by confirming clinical findings. Certain scale profiles would be consistent with specific diagnoses, such as disk displacement with or without reduction, for example.
This assessment and management tool can be administered either as a paper & pencil test in office or at home or by computer on-line. No software purchase is needed. Clincians access their own, secure and protected, testing page with a User Name and Password. They then enter test answers, generate reports and access a variety of resources including on-line tutorial, technical Manual, case studies, publications, and more.
The TMJ Scale accurately measures physical symptom intensity of the presenting problem. It quantities and graphs the symptom dimensions including pain, joint dysfunction and range of motion limitation. It aids in diagnosis and clincial decisions and can be used to monitor treatment progress. It also is used to document treatment outcome. This instrument also screens for non-TM disorders, stress, psychological dysfunction and signs of chronicity which can interfere with successful treatment outcome. It is also an excellent risk managment and litigation tool for the TMD practitioner. Many TMD practitioners consider the TMJ Scale a standard-of-care and essential component of the evauation process. It can save valuable clinician time and is very cost effective.
Testimonials from some of the leaders and most respected clinicians in the field of craniomandibular disorders can be found elsewhere on this website.
The TMJ Scale has been validated and cross-validated in many published research studies with over 14,000 subjects across the US and Canada. It has a published sensitivity and specificity of 88%-93%. Three independent university studies have been published on TMJ Scale validity and research, and the test is currently being used in the largest TMD/CP outcome study ever undertaken (ref. 34). In addition to use in clincial practice on individual patients, it is especially well-suited for outcome or treatment efficacy studies because it is sensitive to symptom change and quantifies patient symptom reports in a psychometrically valid manner.
Important uses of the TMJ Scale in your practice include:
- Screen for or confirm the presence/absence of a TM Disorder.
- Quantify the severity of the TM Disorder.
- Identify and quantify physical symptom areas.
- Screen for non-TM disorders.
- Screen for psychological problems and stress.
- Identify the potential for a chronic disorder.
- Monitor treatment progress and outcome.
- Improve risk management.
OTHER ISSUES:
The test is appropriate for easily screening large numbers of
individuals for TMD/CP in corporate and governmental settings.
The TMJ Scale is usually reimbursed under CPT medical codes.
CONTACT INFORMATION: If you would like more information on using the TMJ Scale in your practice, please email us at painres@tmjscale.com.
The Chronic Pain Battery™
The Chronic Pain Battery is a comprehensive, self-administered, multi-dimensional assessment and management tool for all types of chronic or recurrent non-malignant pain. It collects a comprehensive pain history and performs a medical, psychological, behavioral and social assessment, including psychological screening with the SCL-90. It examines the many subtle issues necessary for successful treatment and makes appropriate recommendations. The Chronic Pain Battery collects, analyzes and employs the clinical data similar to a well trained clinician. It presents the results in a comprehensive report for the medical record, including recommendations.
This self-administered (about 1 hour) paper-and-pencil test can be administered in office or home. It is scored with CPB Report generated on-line and requiring no software purchase. Clinicians access their own, secure and protected, testing page with a User Name and Password on which they can enter test answers and generate reports. This multi-dimensional assesment tool cover the following topics: Demographic and Social History, Support System,Past & Present Pain History, Behavior & Learning Factors(Prior Models,Illness-behavior Reinforcement, Litigation & Compensation, Activity levels), Pain Description and Intensity Ratings, Medication & Treatment History,Medical History, Patient Expectatins and Goals, Personality & Pain Coping Style, Patient Problem Ratings before and after pain onset, Psychological Factors (Stress, Depression, Somatization, Anxiety),Validity Check, Summary of findings and recommendations.
The Chronic Pain Battery is used when a comprehensive, bio-psycho-social-behavioral, evaluation is needed. The fully interpreted report and recommendation help guide evaluation and treatment. It is often used for worker's compensation and disability evaluations. It contains internals checks for random, confused and non-responding. It is cost effective and can save valuable clinician time.
CONTACT INFORMATION: If you would like more information on using the Chronic Pain Battery in your practice, please email us at painres@tmjscale.com.
