DENTISTRY

To Better Serve Patients with TMD & Orofacial Pain

Dr. Lawrence Ashman is the director of the TMD and Orofacial Pain Clinic. The Clinic is a collaborative venture that involves the School of Dentistry and units from the U-M Health System.

Dental patients suffering from facial pain and TMD can get help at a new facility now being run by the School of Dentistry in partnership with the U-M Health System.

The TMD and Orofacial Pain Clinic, at 325 E. Eisenhower, just north of Briarwood Mall, is a collaborative venture that involves the School and units from the U-M Health System including Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Spine Clinic, and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

The U-M Hospital's Medical Pain Clinic and the Headache Clinic will be at the same location in the near future. Other specialty units from the Taubman Center, including neurology, otorhinolaryngology, and psychiatry, will also be involved.

Benefits to Patients

Patients experiencing TMD and orofacial pain will have better access to care and treatment and will find it easier for them to be seen, evaluated, and treated by oral health care and medical professionals under one roof.

"The Clinic opened earlier this year to address an unmet need for treatment among a segment of the population experiencing TMD and orofacial pain," said Dr. Paul Krebsbach, chair of the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences. The Department oversees the Clinic's operations.

He credited Dean Peter Polverini for launching the new facility and fostering greater collaboration with other U-M units.

A Complex Problem

"Because of the complexity in understanding and treating such complicated conditions, a team approach that utilizes expertise in both medicine and dentistry will likely have the best opportunity for success," Krebsbach added.

Dr. Lawrence Ashman is the director of the new clinic. For nearly thirty years, his general dentistry practice focused on evaluating and managing TMD and orofacial pain. He will collaborate with Dr. George Upton in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery who has a long history of treating TMD patients.

Noting that approximately twenty percent of the population experiences some kind of facial pain, Ashman said, "temporomandibular disorders and other orofacial pain disorders are complex clinical problems that often involve both dentistry and medicine."

Because these conditions are complex, he added, "that is why we need to work closely, not just with our dental colleagues, but those in the medical community if we want our patients to have the best possible treatment for their pain and favorable outcomes."

Ashman said the clinic "will always be focused on patient care. But because of the information we will be gathering as we help patients, we may find, over time, that the Clinic's mission could evolve to encompass teaching, education, and research," he said.

When he was at the U-M School of Dentistry, Dr. Christian Stohler ran a pain clinic that sought to gain further insights into the reasons for a patient's pain. The new clinic is more focused on managing a patient's pain.

The TMD and Orofacial Pain Clinic

325 E. Eisenhower

Suite 100

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

Telephone: (734) 936-7175