#165 Why Are dental Schools and TMJ Gurus Poking Around Trying to Treat Symptoms Rather Than TMD’s Cause?

I have covered this question in previous articles but feel my explanations were inadequate.  First, the explanations were my own opinion.  Everyone has opinions and should be welcomed.  But opinions are not fact and I like to limit the information I share to facts.  What are facts?  There are four definitions according to Miriam-Webster. 

1. something that actually exists or occurs : an actual event, situation, etc. 

1. information or a piece of information presented as true or accurate. 

1. the quality of being actual : actuality. 

1. a thing done. 

In this attempt to answer the question raised, I plan on just presenting the facts and allowing readers to answer the question for themselves. 

Before giving the facts, I want to talk a little bit about why information is so important.  More critically, as some may already know, where we get our information is often more important than the information itself.  The universal question is, can you trust the source?  If you want good information that is usable, accurate, and can produce results it must come from a reliable source.   

Schools have been considered reliable sources for centuries.  Dental Schools would be considered reliable sources in the minds of most having to do with dental things.  TMJ Gurus have recently created two separate TMD organizations that are now competing to be the certifying body for the new specialty of Oral Facial Pain, (OFP) created by the American Dental Association, (ADA).  This political move was made because, in the mind of the public, a specialty creates more credibility.  The purpose of these board certifying organizations and new specialty is to create credibility. 

The next thing you need to know is how information creates control.  It works like this.  Information, > Perception, > Behavior, > Control.  So, control is totally dependent on information.  And reliable information is dependent on source.  But what if the source has a hidden agenda. Can a hidden agenda make the source more, or less reliable.  This logical progression applies to any kind of knowledge or information which leads to control, good or bad.  If there is information with a hidden agenda, it is reasonable to assume it will lead to control for hidden reasons. 

During the last 15 years, after discovering that inflammation is the common denominator of TMD, and it is inflammation that directly creates and drives each of the disparate symptoms of this devasting disease,  I have attempted to share this information with my colleagues in the healing arts, including dental schools, governmental health agencies, my own specialty organization of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, university ENT specialists, and even the  TMJ Gurus who use smoke and mirrors and promote the new specialty of OFP.  In every case, this information statistically proven by independent university study, has been turned away by those not wanting to listen to the information and replacing it with their own version not supported by science.  What do these individuals and organizations have to lose by listening to information.  They must have something to lose by listening.   

So here are the facts and the questions generated. 

What is the agenda of the author of the most recent textbook on TMD who literally told me he did not want to hear about what I discovered?  What is the agenda of the Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons who denied me sharing this information on 3 separate attempts including an attempt to give it as a brief 15-minute abstract?  What is the agenda of the Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology (ENT) when I was told they have no interest in my information solving tinnitus, subjective hearing loss, and vertigo, (Meniere’s Disease) for which the ENT’s admit they have no solution?  What is the agenda of the TMJ gurus who do not want to listen to the information  and promote botulinum toxin A, (Botox) knowing that the patients must return every three months to paralyze additional areas, or worse yet, the same areas of pain multiple times?  What is the agenda of dental schools that prefers to treat TMD with a multi-disciplinary approach which includes 5 or 6 separate services and multiple doctors instead of looking at a better way to decrease inflammation? 

I think I’m over the target of hidden agendas.  I’ll let the reader consider what these might be.  I’d be interested in your opinion.