You Have TMJ, I Have TMJ, We all Have TMJ!

What a misnomer! The TMJ is the temporomandibular joint connecting the mandible, or lower jaw, to the skull. We all have it! Put your fingers in front of your ears and open and close; you will feel the TMJ. The condyle, or tip of the mandible, should rotate and slide evenly and smoothly down the maxillary slope. If the two sides are uneven, if you hear a pop or click, or feel pain, or if your jaw locks at times, you MAY have a disfunction of the joint, or TMJ disfunction. That is the proper terminology! Saying “I have TMJ” is like saying “I have knee,” or “I have shoulder.” How to treat it? First, you need a very careful diagnosis of the problem. Second, you need to explore the many noninvasive treatment modalities that may alleviate some of the symptoms.

Newfangled Oral Cancer Screening Devices?

Ever since I started practicing dentistry I have included a visual oral cancer examination for my patients. This includes examining the soft tissues, the tongue and the back of the mouth for suspicious lesions. Last year over 35,000 Americans were diagnosed with oral cancer and over 7,000 died from the disease. But survival rates are very high for cases that are detected early. In recent years several screening devices have become available. Two popular systems are VELscope and ViziLite Plus. I did use each of these systems for a time but returned to the visual exam after reading several studies that showed these adjuncts to be of no value in detecting oral cancer. My patients know that I keep abreast of medical and dental literature and do what I think is best for them!