Dental Sleep Medicine Insider January 2016 | Page 28

“IF WE FEAR THAT ORAL APPLIANCE THERAPY
WILL CAUSE “TMD” AND WE DON’T UNDERSTAND
“TMD,” MANY PATIENTS WHO COULD BENEFIT
FROM ORAL APPLIANCE THERAPY WILL BE DENIED
APPROPRIATE THERAPY.
to statements about oral
appliances causing “TMD”
as well as the misconception
that migraine is a symptom
of “TMD.” The logical
conclusion would then be
that oral appliance therapy
can cause migraine.
“SIMPLY DIAGNOSING
“TMD” AND TURNING AWAY
IS NOT IN THE BEST
INTEREST OF OUR
PATIENTS AND DOES NOT
LEAD TO APPROPRIATE
DIAGNOSTICALLY DRIVEN
THERAPY.”

What concerns us most
is that which we don’t
understand. If we fear that
oral appliance therapy will
cause “TMD” and we don’t
understand “TMD,” many
patients who could benefit
from oral appliance therapy
will be denied appropriate
therapy. Furthermore, those
who have some untoward
effect during therapy will
be steered away from
the potentially life saving
therapy rather than dealing
with the untoward effect
appropriately.
Diagnostically driven therapy
is critically important, and is
dependent on an accurate

diagnosis. Understanding the
potential untoward effects
of oral appliance therapy
is critically important as
well. Understanding how to
evaluate a patient’s adaptive
capacity and likelihood
of developing those side
effects is essential when
considering oral appliance
therapy.
Being able to
diagnose ligament insertion
injuries, as opposed to
joint sprains and/or strains
or musculoskeletal pain
and treat accordingly, not
abandoning therapy out of
fear, allows us to make more
advised treatment decisions.
Simply diagnosing “TMD”
and turning away is not
in the best interest of our
patients and does not lead
to appropriate diagnostically
driven therapy.

ABOUT DR. BARRY GLASSMAN

Dr. Barry Glassman has been
treating sleep seriously for the
past 15 years. Over that time, he
has become a master in the field.
Barry is the head of the clinical
education program for the Dental Sleep Masters program and
maintains a private practice in
Allentown, PA, which is limited to
chronic pain management, temporomandibular joint dysfunction
and dental sleep medicine.
He is a Diplomate of the American
Academy of Craniofacial Pain, a
Fellow of the International College
of Craniomandibular Orthopedics,
a Fellow of the Academy of Dentistry International, and a Diplomate of the American Academy
of Pain Management. He is on
staff at the Lehigh Valley Hospital where he serves as a resident
instructor of Craniofacial Pain
and Dysfunction and Dental Sleep
Medicine. He is a Diplomate of the
Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, and is on staff at the Sacred
Heart Hospital Sleep Disorder
Center as well as serving as the
Chief Dental Consultant to three
other sleep centers in the Lehigh
Valley.
He is a popular and dynamic
international speaker and serves
as a guest lecturer throughout the
year. He hosts in-house courses
on both Pain Management and
Sleep Disorders and is a frequent
speaker at major chronic pain and
joint dysfunction meetings. He
speaks extensively throughout the
year on joint dysfunction, chronic
pain, headache, sleep disorders,
and migraine headache.

WWW.DENTALSLEEPMASTERS.COM