Ben A Sutter

For Beautiful Smiles · Occlusion

Objective: Recently, several studies have reported that occlusion is one of many factors that influence posture. This study’s objective is to metrically evaluate forward head posture and sway in TMD patients, before and after undergoing Disclusion Time Reduction (DTR) with the Immediate Complete Anterior Guidance Coronoplasty (ICAGD), to determine...

Objective: The protocol included the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) to assess the apparent levels of Somatic Symptom Disorders (SSD) prior to and post successful physical treatment of TMD/orofacial pain without any psychosocial or behavioral therapy. Methods: 6 TMD treatment centers recruited TMD patients willing to answer PHQ-15 questi...

Objective: Treating and managing Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) remains a significant challenge. TN is thought to be either idiopathic in nature or related to vascular nerve compression. The purpose of this study was to treat patients diagnosed with TN utilizing the T-Scan to guide measured occlusal corrections in bite force and timing. The null hypothe...

This review was the victim of selection bias, completely disregarding that portion of the dental occlusion literature that best describes the relationship between occlusion and temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). The authors chose only studies comparing either specific visual occlusal features and TMDs or visual features to specific TMDs conditions...

October 2019, Vol.2, No. 1

Objective: Diagnosing and effectively treating Meniere's Disease (MD) remains a significant challenge. There exists no consensus on the etiology in the literature. The purpose of this study was to treat patients diagnosed with MD utilizing the T-Scan Novus and BioEMG III to guide measured occlusal corrections in bite force and timing. The null hypo...

Clinical methods for the diagnosis of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) internal derangements have been shown to be inadequate to consistently arrive at an accurate description of a joint's condition. Sophisticated imaging using MRI and CBCT are the most often used alternatives but have high per use costs associated with them. To avoid the unprofitable...

Objective: To improve the readers' understanding and critical thinking when reading the dental literature on Vicious Cycle Theory (VCT) and the Pain Adaptation Model (PAM). Methods: Primary journal articles and systematic reviews from the dental literature about VCT and PAM were analyzed and reviewed. A Medline search of Pain Adaptation Model and T...

Objectives: The objectives of this research were; 1) to compare the changes in PHQ-15 scores to the changes in the EMG and EGN chewing data 2) to compare the progression of pain intensity, frequency of symptoms and functional restriction scores to the progression of EMG and EGN measurements. Methods: 6 TMD treatment centers recruited 82 TMD patient...

Objectives: The objectives of this research were; 1) to compare the Changes in PHQ-15 scores to the changes in the recorded Joint Vibration Analysis (JVA) data and 2) to compare the progression of pain intensity, frequency of symptoms and functional restriction scores to the concomitant progression of JVA data. Methods: Six TMD treatment centers re...

Objective: Evaluate the postural stability changes, measured from sway parameters recordings on a force platform, in patients suffering from temporomandibular disorders with a change of mandibular position, monitored via cephalometric study, provided by an anatomical orthotic. Methods: A retrospective clinical study of existing cephalometric and p...

Abstract A clinical concern is when is the best time to evaluate and revise occlusal contacts. A review of the literature suggests a time factor could significantly affect recording a patient’s bite. Objectives. A pilot study was undertaken utilizing T-Scan (Tekscan, Inc. South Boston, MA USA) to measure first tooth contacts in 32 patients, as the...

There is nothing inherently wrong with evaluating the emotional status of a temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patient. Offering sympathy for a patient’s struggles, previously known as “Bedside Manner,” may even contribute to a patient’s ultimate recovery. The strong correlation between chronic pain and emotional disturbance is very well established...

Costantinides, F. et al recently published a Systematic Review1 of just 3 of the 144 jaw tracking publications they found. They then concluded that: “The scientific evidence does not support the usefulness in clinical practice of Jaw Tracking devices to diagnose TMD because their diagnostic reliability is poor.” This conclusion was arrived at after...

Drs. Dias, Rodrigues, Messias, Guerra, and Manfredini, are to be noted for their efforts in attempting to correlate Articulating Paper Markings, Optical Scanning, and T-Scan force data to each other. The authors reported a weak correlation existed between articulating paper mark area, optical scanning and T-Scan force output. The findings of a weak...

Although there are certainly more than just twelve myths regarding the diagnosis and treatment of Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD), these are some of the most confounding. Those who embrace these myths usually have just one or two favorites, but only the Deontologists among us, those who believe in following the rules regardless of the outcome, ca...

The aim of this chapter is to present a series of chronic pain clinical cases that were originally diagnosed by non-dental healthcare professionals, as being something other than temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Specifically, the individual patient diagnoses were Phantom Bite Syndrome (PB), Meniere's Disease (MD), Cervical Dystonia (CD), and Trig...

Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD), always plural, constitute a category of many different mostly physical conditions. The key to successful treatment is the development of a definitive diagnosis, which allows the selection of the most appropriate treatment. TMD treatments should be aimed at all of the underlying causative factors, not limited to ma...

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the TMJ vibrations and Range of Motion (ROM) changes in Occluso-muscle disorder (OMD) subjects before and after undergoing the ICAGD coronoplasty. The null hypothesis = no change. Materials and Methods: Opening and closing Range of Motion (ROM) and TM joint vibrations were recorded from 43 muscularly symptomatic subj...

ABSTRACT Introduction: There is limited literature describing the use of psychological testing on TMD patients who undergo occlusal treatment. Objective: The aim of this study of carefully selected muscular TMD subjects, was whether Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) scores could be reduced by the measured occlusal treatment, Immediate Complete...

Microbial infections represent a substantial heath risk worldwide. Recently, more emphasis has been placed on the role of spirochetes in the etiology of Alz-heimer’s disease. Periodontal treponemas have been implicated in playing a co-infectious role in the disease process. Eliminating the co-infecting pathogens could interrupt or slow down the dis...

Aims The aim of this study was to test subjective interpretation accuracy via digital polling of a large group of dentists to determine whether dentists can reliably interpret occlusal forces by visually assessing articulating paper markings. Methods One hundred fifty-two dentists selected the most forceful occlusal contact in five occlusal-view...

This case report describes computer-guided occlusal therapy in a patient who met the unified diagnostic criteria for phantom bite. After a review of the patient’s medical history, along with a diagnostic work-up that included cone beam computed tomography, temporomandibular joint vibration analysis, and digital occlusal analysis, problematic dental...

Aims: This report reviews two patients diagnosed with Meniere's Disease that were treated with computer guided occlusal therapy.

The purpose of this case report is to share an incidence where a bite force imbalance and occlusal interferences contributed to chronic daily headaches. A TekScan digital occlusal analyzer was used to evaluate the bite and systematically guide alterations to the patient's occlusion. After the bite was adjusted and optimized, the patient reported a...

Presented here is an analysis of the molecular evolutionary dynamics of the P gene among 76 representative sequences of the Paramyxoviridae and Rhabdoviridae RNA virus families. In a number of Paramyxoviridae taxa, as well as in vesicular stomatitis viruses of the Rhabdoviridae, the P gene encodes multiple proteins from a single genomic RNA sequenc...