Chicago Doctor wants TMJ Patients to Know: TMJ and Sleep Linked According to NHLBI of the NIH.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 12, 2007 -- Dr Ira Shapira, a Highland Park, Illinois resident wants to help Chicagoland patients with TMJ Disorders and help patients around the US find Dentists to treat TMJ Disorders and sleep apnea.

Heart Lung and Blood Institute links TMJ DISORDERS and SLEEP in a recently released report; CARDIOVASCULAR AND SLEEP-RELATED CONSEQUENCES OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR DISORDERS NHLBI WORKSHOP

The NIH says more than 34 million Americans suffer from TMJ Disorders and Dr Ira L Shapira a Highland Park, Illinois dentist who practices in Gurnee, Illinois wants to help.

He has a recent story in Sleep and Health Journal on TMJ Disorders, SUFFER NO MORE: DEALING WITH THE GREAT IMPOSTER. Everyone suffering from these disorders should read his article. See it at this link.


http://www.sleepandhealth.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=237&tid=22
Additional information is available at www.ihateheadaches.org and www.ihatecpap.com

The NHLBI definitions of TMJ are as follows:
Temporomandibular Disorders – Definition and Prevalence

The term TMD refers to a collection of medical and dental conditions affecting the
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and/or muscles of mastication, as well as contiguous tissue

Components. Symptoms range from occasional discomfort to debilitating pain and severely
Compromised jaw function. The masticatory apparatus is not only involved in chewing and
swallowing but also in other critical tasks, including breathing and talking. Specific etiologies
such as trauma and degenerative arthritides underlie some forms of TMD but there is no
common etiology or biological explanation. TMD is hence comprised of a heterogeneous group
of health problems whose signs and symptoms are overlapping but not identical.

Although broad longitudinal and cross-sectional epidemiological studies have not been carried

out, TMD is estimated to affect about 12% of the general population, representing more than 34
million Americans. The majority of those seeking treatment are women in their reproductive
years. As for many other pain conditions, the clinical scenario of TMD also tends to be more
severe in women than men. TM disorders are considered a serious health problem because
many individuals lose their ability to hold regular jobs and to function productively even within
the context of a household environment.

The current diagnostic taxonomies of TMD are based on signs and symptoms rather than on

etiological or pathogenetic features. Depending on the practitioner and the diagnostic
methodology employed, TMD has been used to characterize a wide range of conditions
diversely presented as pain in the face or jaw joint area, masticatory muscle pain, headaches, earaches, dizziness, limited mouth opening due to soft or hard tissue obstruction, TMJ clicking or popping sounds, excessive tooth wear and other complaints. TMD remains to be classified in the larger context of other muscle and joint disorders or in the category of pain disorders (NIH Technology Assessment Conference, 1996). About half of all cases are attributed to conditions

and/or internal derangements. Pain linked to the TMJ and/or muscles of mastication constitutes the essential criterion for case assignment. It often qualifies as “aching”, “throbbing”, “tiring” and exhausting. About 60-90% of cases appear to experience satisfactory resolution of symptoms with a range of interventions. In contrast, the remaining group of patients does not respond well to these treatments and continues to exhibit persistent pain. Comorbid complaints, such as problems with sleep, blood pressure and breathing are not uncommon for this group of TMD patients but have not been well characterized.

Reproductive age, female gender and to some extent trauma are the major risk factors for TMD.
As identified by the NIH Technology Assessment Conference on TMD in 1996, there is a need
for longitudinal studies of TMD as related to the natural history and to potential risk factors and
using predictive and explanatory statistical methodologies. Prospective epidemiological

research is needed to determine the clinical risk factors for TMD and their relationships to cardiovascular diseases. However, there are reasons to suspect that TMD patients are at greater risk for cardiovascular diseases. Many patients exhibit sleep dysfunction associated
with persistent pain and inability to sleep on their side, but sleeping supine increases the risk for
sleep disordered breathing. The effects of acute and persistent pain upon autonomic and motor control of these systems would be expected to impose further cardiovascular risk to these
patients based upon what is already known about the effects of sleep disordered breathing.

The report also ties these disorders to sleep apnea. The standard treatment for sleep apnea is CPAP but a majority of patients prescribed it are not successful in using it. Oral appliances are a cofortable cpap alternative that are fitted by a sleep apnea dentist trained in dental sleep medicine. Dr Ira Shapira of Highland Park, Illinois formed I Hate CPAP LLC to help patients with sleep disorders link with dentists who treat sleep apnea. He recently retained rights to www.ihateheadaches.org and plans to bring patients together with Neuromuscular Dentists to treat their TMJ Disorders.

Dr Ira L Shapira is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine, a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management, a Fellow and Regent of ICCMO, The International College of Cranio-Mandibular Orthopedics, A charter member of the Sleep Disorder Dental Society which later became The American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, A Founding member of DOSA the Dental Organization for Sleep Apnea, A member of the Academy of Cranial Facial Pain, fromerly the Academy of Head Neck and Facial Pain, a long time member of AES, the American Equilibration Society and many other dental and cosmetic dentistry groups. He is a Dental Section Editor and writer of Sleep and Health Journal.

Dr Shapira practices Neuromuscular Dentistry and helps patients find Neuromuscular Dentists who are members of ICCMO. He feels that ICCMO Dentists are most interested in the field of Chronic Pain Treatment utilizing Neuromuscular Dentistry and are not intrested only in the exquisite dental reconstructions that can be done with this powerful tool.

Dr Shapira practices with his partner Dr Mark Amidei and sees patients from Lake Forest, Highland Park, Deerfield, Libertyville, Oakbrook, Naperville, Barrington as well as from Chicago and long distance patients. He has special arrangements at Midlane Country Club to put up patients from out of town. Dentists and their Staffs stay at Midlane when they come from around the US to take his classes on Dental Sleep Medicine and TMJ Disorders.

He can be contacted at 1-800-TM-JOINT or 1-8-NO-PAP-MASK

More information can be found online at http://www.ihateheadaches.org

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