A Critical Review of Dr. Charles S. Greene's Article titled "Managing the Care of Patients with Temporomandibular Disorders: A New Guideline for Care" and A Revision of the American Association of Dental Research's 1996 Policy Statement on Temporomandibular Disorders, Approved by the AADR Council in March 2010, published in the Journal of the American Dental…

A 45-year-old white female was referred for tinnitus (ringing or buzzing) in the left ear and facial pain that had been present for the previous two years. She had first sought treatment from her family doctor and an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. Both doctors had told her nothing could be done. She then went…

There has been considerable controversy over the years regarding the importance of psychological factors in the diagnosis, etiology, progression and response to treatment in the field of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs).  Few studies have looked carefully at the influence of psychological factors on different components of TMDs.  For example, on disorders primarily involving the TM joint versus…

Psychological Factors and Temporomandibular Treatment Outcomes Wexler Gerald B and Steed Pamela A, Jour of Craniomandib Practice, (16)2: 72-77, 1998. This study examines the effect of psychological dysfunction as an etiological factor in temporomandibular disorder (TMD). It employs a thoroughly validated psychometric measurement system, the TMJ Scale (Pain Resource Center, Inc., Durham, North Carolina), to…

There has been much contorversary and confusion over the years regarding the question as to whether temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders are self-limiting or not.  This is a complicated issue of great concern to both patients and healthcare providers.  The authors in the study below have found some prior studies attempting to address this issue to…

Validating the TMJ Scale in a National Sample of 10,000 Patients: Demographic and Epidemiologic Characteristics. Levitt SR, McKinney MW, Jour of Orofacial Pain, 8(1):25-25, 1994. The accuracy and reliability of the TMJ Scale were originally determined in cross-validation studies on large, research-based patient samples. It had been assumed that the demographic characteristics and test responses…

Steed PA, Wexler, GB, Temporomandibular Disorders-Traumatic Etiology vs. Nontraumatic Etiology: A Clinical and Methodological Inquiry into Symptomatology and Treatment Outcomes Jour of Craniomandib Practice, (19)3: 188-194, 2001 Abstract The purpose of this research is to investigate the distinctions relating to Presenting Symptoms and Treatment Outcomes between patients suffering temporomandibular disorder (TMD) as a result of…

This is an example of a longitudinal, prospective research study using the TMJ Scale on a large number of patients in multiple clinical settings.  This study was designed to investigate whether treated patients achieve both clinically and statistically significant levels of improvement relative to non-treated patients and whether there is any symptom relapse after treatment…

In addition to previous posts on published international research studies involving the TMJ Scale in countries like Japan, Canada and Brazil, the following study was conducted in Iraq: Abstract Qasim WF, The Effectiveness of Occlusal Splint Therapy in Treatment of Iraqi Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) Patients, J Med J, (40) 4:1-6, 2006. The effectiveness of an…

In addition to the many published research studies over the years in the U.S. involving the TMJ Scale, studies in other countries and cultures have also been ongoing.  Many have expressed an interest in reading about such studies.  Therefore, this is one example of a study done in Brazil. Nasr MK, Bataglion C, Nunes L de…