Professor Rudolph Slavicek emphasized the importance of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) as part of his gnathologic triad concept. It is critical that we consider the occlusion, the muscles and the TMJ in all our diagnostics and treatments as they must exist in harmony with each other. If they do not then dysfunction will ensue causing our patients unnecessary pain, and loss of function and our therapies are doomed to be only partially successful at best and compete failures at worst. 

     The TMJ exists as part of a more complex structure termed the craniomandibular system (CMS).    We will discuss this in a future blog, but the CMS is comprised or the TMJ, supportive ligaments, system immanent musculature and neurologic innervations.

     The TMJ is the most complex joint in the body.  In addition to having two joints Left and right) that must function both dependently and independently depending on the function required, the mandible connects the joints and retains the teeth and thereby the occlusion.  Any movement that affects the teeth must inherently affect the joint and vice versa. 

     The TMJs are described as diarthrodial joints which means they have two joint compartments per joint and two separate functions.  Rotation occurs in the lower joint space and translation occurs in the upper joint space. The combination of translation and rotation allows for the functions of speech, swallowing, bruxism, respiration, and mastication.

     Our mission as dentists is to facilitate proper function and eliminate dysfunction. At VieSID we teach the proper clinical examination techniques in combination with instrumental analysis including electronic Condylography which gives us valuable metrics that we can use during the diagnostic phase and during our treatments.  In order to optimize function, we must understand it at the level of the TMJ so that we can optimize the function at the level of the muscles and teeth.  Join us for our hands-on mini residency to learn how!

At VieSID Canada we teach each of these steps in detail.  Students of our 15 day mini-residency graduate with a thorough understanding of comprehensive diagnosis.  Once this information is gathered it is entered into a database including selected instrumental analysis appropriate for each patient.  In this way we are able to individualize our  therapies and treat our patients with personalized care.