#82 The Big Lie About TMD/TMJ

If you are one of the unfortunate patients who has suffered with TMD/TMJ symptoms for decades without resolution, you have likely sought treatment from several different health care providers over time. It is not unusual for patients with a 20- or 30-year history of symptoms to have seen between 5 and 10 providers seeking relief for the confusing but unrelenting and recurring symptoms.  The record holder in our practice told me that over a span of 40 years she had seen over 150 different doctors seeking relief for her headaches, earaches, shoulder and arm pain, hearing and ear problems and difficulty chewing.  She swore she was not exaggerating, and I commended her for being so persistent.  Of course, her symptoms turned out to be routine TMD/TMJ which resolved after a short period of time using our intraoral device and protocol.

With that said, you’re probably asking, what is so special about the Urbanek device and Protocol that sets it apart from the many other treatments and recommendations made for treating TMD/TMJ?  The answer is simple.   Our intraoral device and protocol treats the cause of the symptoms.  Until now, all the health care providers have been treating symptoms not the cause.

Inflammation within the temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) creates the symptoms. Each and every symptom of TMD (Headache, Earache, Neck and Shoulder Pain, Ringing in the ears, Subjective Hearing Loss, Vertigo, ARM/Hand/Finger tingling and numbness, and various types of jaw locking) is generated by inflammation inside the joint.  The chronic inflammation is generated by different types of trauma to the jaw joints including clenching and grinding of the teeth.  But the common denominator of all the symptoms is chronic inflammation within the jaw joint.

It stands to reason then, when you make the chronic inflammation go away, the symptoms go away.  That is exactly what happens when you use the patented, FDA cleared, independent university study validated, non-surgical Urbanek Device and Protocol. Within a few weeks to a few months, following the standard protocol for device use, the symptoms diminish as the chronic inflammation is decreased.  The device and protocol work just like a set of crutches work for a damaged and painful knee.

Chronic inflammation in a joint is diminished when the joint is unloaded and rested.  A painful knee responds well to using crutches.  The Urbanek Device and Protocol act just like a set of crutches for the Temporomandibular Joint.  Similarly, placing the arm in a sling is the preferred method to treat the chronic inflammation of “Tennis Elbow”.  In fact, Tennis Elbow and TMD/TMJ are the exact same disease process located to two different joints.  The way all joints in the body respond to chronic inflammation is identical.  Knees, elbows, and temporomandibular joints all respond to chronic inflammation using the same neurological, endocrine, pathological, and cell biological mechanisms.  These joints operate identically when it comes to responding to chronic inflammation.  These mechanisms are simple and well understood by the Orthopedic Surgeons as they apply to knees, hips, and elbows.  That is why, if the care and treatment of the temporomandibular joint had been maintained by Orthopedic Surgeons, the confusion and conundrum of TMD/TMJ would have been solved 60 years ago. The concept of treating a damaged, chronically inflamed joint by unloading the joint is used routinely by Orthopedic Surgeons.  But the Orthopedic Surgeons, who treat all the other joints of the body, elected to transfer the treatment of the temporomandibular joint to dentists to deal with.  And the dentists didn’t know anything about treating the rest of the joints of the body.

Dental schools, not knowing the simplicity of treating chronic inflammation within joints, have taught for 60 years the TMJ is a very complicated joint, unlike any other joint in the body.  That was the big lie that started dentists and the dental schools looking to make the problem complicated, rather than simple.  Every dentist is taught the TMJ is different and complicated and unlike all other joints in the body.  It is also the excuse used to justify 60 years of no solution for the problem, treating only the symptoms rather than investigating the common denominator and applying the simple solution of unloading the TMJ, allowing the chronic inflammation to subside and relieving the symptoms.  The TMJ works like all other joints.  To teach otherwise is a lie.

Treating TMD/TMJ is as simple as unloading the joint like a sling works for Tennis Elbow, or crutches works for a knee. The TMJ is not a complicated joint. Treating TMD/TMJ is simple not complicated.