Dr. Okeson is Professor, Chairman of the Department of Oral Health Science and Director of the College’s Orofacial Pain Center, which he established in 1977.
His textbook entitled ‘Management of Temporomandibular Disorders and Occlusion’ is presently in its seventh edition and used in most dental schools in the United States. It has also been translated into eleven foreign languages for use abroad. In addition to this text, Dr. Okeson has authored the sixth edition of Bells Orofacial Pains. Dr. Okeson has more than 220 publications in the area of orofacial pain and TMD and has been very active in the development of graduate training programs in the area of orofacial pain.
He is past President of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain and founding Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain. He presently serves as President of the Board. He was the editor of the third edition of the American Academy of Orofacial Pains Guidelines for the Classification, Assessment, and Management of Orofacial Pain. Dr. Okeson has presented more then 1100 invited lectures on the subject of TMD and orofacial pain in all 50 USA states and in 52 different countries.
In this episode:
- Orofacial Pain as a dental specialty.
- TMD vs. TMJ: what’s the difference?
- Relationship between body posture and TMD.
- Dos and dont’s in treating TMD/ Orofacial Pain.
…and more!
Best advice Dr. Okeson has ever received:
“Follow the man who’s seeking truth; not the man who has found it.”
Clinical/management pearl:
“Listen to the patient. A recent survey says every sixth patient that comes to the dental office is because of pain – every sixth patient. So in a practice setting, it’s mostly tooth aches but the next most common pain complaint is musculoskeletal pain. And so if you’re in a practice setting and you say, “Well, I don’t see many of those patients.” Likely is they’re not either telling you about it or you’re not looking for it because it’s really common in practices.”
What excites him right now in dentistry:
“Genetics of pain. There is a gene that identifies the pain-sensitive individuals, pain-insensitive individuals. What we’re beginning to realize is we can do certain things in some patients and we get away with it all because it doesn’t matter but other patients are far more sensitive and maybe more pain-prone, if you will. And as we move along here, I think we’re going to learn that before we start doing a lot of procedures in dentistry, like putting implants, you know, drilling holes and things like that, that we may in fact, take on some salivary, learn more about the genetics of the patient and then appreciate that these are patients that are of high-risk factors for continued pain problems after our procedures. That’s kind of exciting to be able to predict some of this because right now we’re not very good at solving what I would call Persistent Dento-Alveolar Pain. Because I see lot of patients they had teeth extracted and still hurts. It’s not the teeth at all any longer, it’s the neuropathic pain and I believe we’re going to learn there’s some genetic predisposition to those kinds of conditions and that’s kind of exciting to figure out.”
His advice for those who are about to start their practice:
“Don’t ever lose sight of the fact that being a dentist, we’re actually granted the privilege of treating our fellow men and women. It’s truly a privilege. And the men and women that we treat don’t know what we’re doing, they trust us. And therefore, it is our role as health care providers to select the most appropriate treatment for those patients. In a practice setting, if you think about the patient as your mom, your dad, your wife, your husband, your child and you make decisions as if they’re family members, you’re going to have a very successful practice. Because what happens is these patients will understand you. They’ll understand that you’re caring for them in a proper way and they’ll be your greatest advertisers. And that’s what’s going to be more important than going out and buying special equipment and going out and doing all stuff to try to generate money. You have to know how to run a practice but yet too often or in some cases I see the whole thing is becoming too money-driven and the patient loses. They’ve got a practice that doesn’t care much about the patients, just how many crowns or how many surgeries or whatever it is.”
Amy barris
Excellent interview, I have had dental pain for 5 yrs, still no easy answers. Chronic pain is tough, I have seen at least 10 or more doctors. I live in Michigan, I wish you were here