The State of TMJ/TMJD from Our Perspective

[Continued from the tmjoints.org homepage]

In fact, from our perspective, we believe it has become more complex, obfuscated, and the opportunity for JJAMD to "Break the logjam" has been thwarted. Yet, we remain true to our original mission, to never compromise ourselfves by acquiesing to other's self-vested interests, and "To tell-it-like-it-is", if we are to achieve our mission.

America has lost its best government tmj/tmjd advocate -- Senator Edward F. Kennedy. He and his aides were most visible and helpful to try to move the jaw joints and their tmjd disorders into a humane sphere. He advocated to the nih medical-side directors his great interest to absorb TMJ/TMJD into NIH, not just NIDCR. This resulted in the "NIHTMJD interagency working group, which had a working collaboration of NIH/NIDCR/and TMJ advocacy organizations. It had the potential to accomplish better health for all. But, this too, started to slide back to just nidcr and further distanced JJAMD from its own effort to help bring NIHTMJDIAWG into existence. We have withdrawn from this committee; and, in fact, we have withdrawn from being consigned to a dental realm to advocate.

A recent example that subtly evidenced itself and came to our attention is that the TMJ population is reported out as growing exponentially, despite there being no universally accredited or accepted science that we know of to prove why. As an example, recently we read that the TMJD population had shifted from the usually reported out 15,000,000 patients to 35,000,000! where did the newer 25,000,000 TMJD patients appear from and based on any governmental national survey?? jjamd throughout its many decades of dealing with government agencies to conduct a national comprehensive medical-dental survey vis-a-viz a "comprehensive medical-dental tmj patient registry", was always turned down. So this is a startling revelation to us.

There is movement in the TMJ/TMJD field, but it is further diluted into "pain, chronic pain, women's pain, co-morbid pain," And the like. "Function and dysfunction" Is subordinated. The "jaw joints" are subordinated. To us, this takes the eye off the ball to bring the needed awareness to the importance of these "joints" And "healthy jaw joints" To their relationship to whole body health. Indeed, we see that chronic pain has become the focus of NIH/NIDCR/other agencies, dental schools, patient advocacy organizations, etc.

In fact, a new coalition of co-morbid organizations dealing with chronic pain, have formed into a national alliance named "women in pain" With the emphasis on freeing women in pain. This further distances jjamd to join in, becasue we believe it further dimininishes the jaw joints. Yet they tried to use the jjamd patented congressional proclamation called "Jaw Joints - TMJ Awareness Month", Without JJAMD's knowledge or patented needed permission or even attribution to JJAMD. We had to stop this misuse of our precious trademark!!