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According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Edition, there are 151,500 Practicing Dentists in the United States. I believe conservatively speaking 80% are involved with the following:
* Preventative care – Restore, reconstruct, replace, redo, alter, extract, maintaining.
* Limited understanding of the importance of the bio- physiology of occlusion/ practice management of their practice.
* They have very little to no understanding of TMD issues.
Approximately 22,725 Dentist in the U.S. (15% at best, again a conservative number, giving them a benefit of doubt) are involved with the following More Advanced forms of dentistry such as:
* Recognize some of the musculoskeletal occlusal signs & symptoms.
* Masticatory dysfunctions disorders.
* Joint derangement problems
* Temporomandibular pain problems.
Now this leaves a remaining 5% approximately 7,575 Dentists in the United States who may consider themselves as “expert” dentists (again a very conservative and generous number for the benefit of any to doubt…these expert dentists should be able to do the following:
* The ability, skills to treat, recognize and see the occlusal/TMD problems.
* Able to treat the masticatory dysfunction, pain and TM Joint derangements effectively.
* Ability and knowledge to address the cervical dysfunctional TMD problems
* Ability and knowledge to address the TMJ primary problems, Class II division 2 retruding jaw problems and or retruded maxillary problems.
* Ability, skills and knowledge to treat the anterior open bite TMD pain problem cases
* Address the CNS – autonomic (parasympathetic and sympathetic) responses of the TMD patient.
Question: Where are these 7,575 Expert Dentists in the United States, let alone in this world where our TMJ/TMD discussion group of patients can go to access these doctors? I want to know…where are they if they exist in this country.
Consider this…<1% of the total number of dentists in the United States is the remaining number of 1, 515 Dentists possibly available at best to address this list of problems I mentioned above (these are the concerns that most of these internet TMD layfolks on these forums have as their concerns). I don’t think what I have stated was over exaggerated or out of line at all. How else can one explain the predicament that many here are on in?
[A TMJ/TMD Discussion forum member] stated his interpretation and posted his opinion above as: “The arrogance of stating that only 1%, of health care providers agree with the current #TMD #CNS model. Then stating that 99% are wrong, is in addition outrageous.”
I don’t think what I stated was wrong neither outrageous…..I actually stated the following: “This is where we see 99% of the profession fall short from their lack of understanding the GNM issues.”
What I posted above in this thread was based on this type of data and information. You can all decide base on state data…not on some biased opinion.
There are no more than 230-250 dentists who have actually come to get trained in GNM here in Las Vegas at Occlusion Connections. Not all have gone through the Levels 1-7 and ortho/orthopedic training in total. You all can do further the math!
GNM is such a small entity in the bigger picture of things, yet for some reason it has become a significant focus of attention around the world for some odd reason amongst many TMJ and TMD forum groups. GNM dentists are just dentist trying to do what is right and do good things for our TMD patients. Is that a bad or outrageous thing to do?
– Clayton A. Chan, D.D.S. – Las Vegas, NV
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