TMJ Services

TMD/TMJ is the acronym for Temporomandibular Joint Disorder/Temporomandibular Joint, and OSA is the acronym for Obstructive Sleep Apnea.    TMD/TMJ is a disease seen most often in women and defined by its symptoms, including frequent and/or recurring headaches, earaches, neck pain, jaw pain, ringing in the ears, a feeling of fullness in the ears, vertigo, upper […]

One of the earliest patients I ever treated with the Urbanek Device and Protocol was a woman who had just about all the usual symptoms for 30 years.  She was experiencing chronic severe headaches, earaches, jaw and neck pain, ringing in the ears, a feeling of fullness in the ears, frequent episodes of vertigo, upper […]

Included with your annual or semiannual visit with your primary care physician you routinely do some lab tests.  Sometimes your physician wants you to give some blood, urine, or maybe some x-rays taken.  These tests are usually done as a method to screen for diseases that may or may not have already displayed symptoms.  They […]

When you read the title of this article did it make you feel anxious or not quite aware of your surroundings.  That’s because there was a word in the title you did not understand.  I bet the word you did not understand was anamnesis.  I intentionally placed that word in the title to get your […]

Is TMD/TMJ Multifactorial of Unifactorial? When you Google “what causes TMJ” this is what comes up from the Mayo Clinic. The disk erodes or moves out of its proper alignment The joint’s cartilage is damaged by arthritis The joint is damaged by a blow or other impact In many cases, however, the cause of TMJ […]

Why is there a universally public and professional negative consensus regarding TMD/TMJ? The answer has many features.  It is not an exaggeration to state patients with the diagnosis and the doctors faced with treating them have negative opinions regarding this disease.  Medical providers often misdiagnose the symptoms and confuse TMD/TMJ with problems they are most […]

The Oxford dictionary defines bruxism as involuntary habitual grinding of the teeth, typically during sleep. Bruxism is the most common cause of damage and chronic inflammation within the temporomandibular joint, (TMJ). But it is not the only cause.  There are two other causes. In this article, I will discuss the second most common cause which dentists […]

Definition of Competence:  The ability to do something successfully or efficiently. The word competence is derived from two Latin words, 1. “com” which means “together”, and 2. “petere” a verb meaning “to strive, seek, or aim toward”. Therefore, competence means: “to be able to do something successfully or efficiently by striving together. In everyday use, […]

It is very common for a patient to arrive at our office for a TMD/TMJ consultation with a bag full of night guards.  Often the bag contains 2-3 guards, and I have seen as many as 8 from the same patient.  Sometimes the guards have been made by the same dentist, and sometimes they have […]

The first scientific paper on the relationship between the symptoms of TMD/TMJ was published in 1934.  The author, James B. Costen MD, an ENT surgeon from St. Louis identified and discussed the problem and theorized the cause of the long list of disparate symptoms as missing posterior teeth.  Thus, began a 90-year marathon of less […]