Noshir Mehta: The Dentist's Role in the Assessment and Management of Temporomandibular Disorders and Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Dr. Mehta received his BDS degree from Punjab Government Dental College and Hospital, India in 1967 and his MDS degree from King Georges College and Hospital Lucknow India in 1969. He earned a Post Graduate certificate in Periodontology in 1971, and then earned a Master of Science from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in 1973 followed by his IS DMD in 1977. For over 49 years, Dr. Mehta has been a part of the faculty at the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. In 1976, he founded and directed the first school based TMD center in the country which grew into the current Craniofacial pain center at Tufts. He has also served as Chairman of General Dentistry and Associate Dean for Global Affairs amongst other positions at Tufts. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Tufts University and is a Diplomate in Orofacial Pain and Dental Sleep medicine. For the past 40 years has lectured nationally and internationally on these topics. Dr. Mehta has received numerous awards from various dental organizations including the prestigious Hayden Stack Award from the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain and, 2015 Clinician of the Year from the Massachusetts Dental Society to name a few. He has published extensively in peer reviewed journals, chapters in major textbooks, is editor of the sleep section for the Journal of Craniomandibular and Sleep Practice and sits on the editorial board of several other international publications. He is the senior author of the textbook Head, Face and Neck Pain: Science, Evaluation and Management published by Wiley in 2009.
This lecture is broken into many sections . Just as our patients are complicated, concepts of TMD and dental sleep problems have many avenues of assessment and management. This lecture is not meant to be the only way to assess and treat rather it is one person’s personal experience over 45 years of private practice, research, and teaching at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. In trying to develop simplified techniques of teaching dental students it has been my observations that the longer we are in the field of dentistry the less we tend to look at the patient as a full human being and more as a tooth.
In this field however our concepts of limited focus have been the cause of many unsuccessful and sometimes unnecessary treatments.
Topics that will be covered include:
Historical facts and fiction of dental Occlusal concepts that have been cemented into our education and have formed our treatment concepts.
Definitions of TMJ, TMD, Orofacial Pains and other descriptors that have complicated the path for many practicing dentists and led to many concepts of treatments.
Symptoms of the TMD patient and role of bruxism in pain and interactions with obstructive sleep apnea. Can we use symptoms as an assessment tool based on research findings?
Is there a commonality of dental occlusion in these patients that could lead to a more simplified algorithm for diagnosis and management?
Are there means of predicting these disorders and taking steps to minimize the occurrence in our dental patients?
What are the most effective means of utilizing bite appliances in a three-dimensional model of maxillo-mandibular jaw relationships?
How to address the wrong but generally held concepts that “TMD” patients are crazy anyways?
Multidisciplinary concepts of managing these patients successfully.
Upon completion of this course, attendees should be able to:
How to categorize their patients into simpler diagnostics categories.
How to assess the patients through a step-by-step clinical assessment.
When to treat, how to treat and when to refer.
Hopefully when not to fall asleep during the lecture.