Subject: TMJ AWARENESS MONTH - NOVEMBER (Repost)
From: Judy
Date: Mon, Nov 2, 1998 00:07 EST
Message-id: <363D3DE8.78D0@baynet.net>
I posted this last year and I feel it fitting that it be reposted this
year.
Take care
Judy :)
******************************************************
TMJ AWARENESS MONTH - NOVEMBER
Author: Judy
Email: judy@baynet.net
Date: 1997/11/15
Forums: sci.med.dentistry, alt.support.jaw-disorders
Hello to all!
On this special day in mid November, I feel it is fitting to let you all
know that it is Jaw Joints--"TMJ AWARENESS MONTH"!
Maybe this will be the month that there will be a new "understanding"
between the TMJ patients and the Dental Professionalists in this forum.
Maybe if we can find the understanding here we can bring it out to the
"real" world for all to benefit!
So Happy TMJ AWARENESS MONTH to you all!!
Take care
Judy :)
TMJ AWARENESS MONTH
______
HON. BARNEY FRANK
of massachusetts
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, September 30, 1997
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call to my
colleagues' attention the designation of this coming November and all
future Novembers as Jaw Joints--TMJ Awareness Month. In Washington's
world of abbreviations and acronyms, TMJ is not one of the better known.
Temporomandibular Joint Disorders are among the more painful, yet least
well understood disorders affecting people today. While estimates of the
number of
[[Page E1900]]
people in this country affected by TMJ disorders run into the millions,
these disorders are often mistaken for other ailments or presumed to be
psychological in nature.
In light of the difficulties that exist in diagnosing and treating TMJ
disorders it is clearly very appropriate to establish an awareness
month, and I applaud the Jaw Joints & Allied Musculo-Skeletal Disorders
Foundation for helping organize this effort. The foundation, which is
based in Boston, was created and is presided over by two extremely
dedicated Massachusetts residents named Renee and Milton Glass. They
have been an excellent source of information to me over the years about
TMJ and related matters, and, although this November is officially TMJ
Awareness Month, it is also in many ways a tribute to their dedication
and hard work in the cause of helping those who suffer from this
disorder.
As part of that work, Renee and Milton Glass and their colleagues are
going to be involved in two important TMJ-related events in Washington
in November. On November 20 and 21, the National Institutes of Health
will be holding a workshop entitled ``New Directions in Pain
Research,'' which will include some discussion of TMJ. On November 22,
the TMJ Association's annual meeting, with participation by the
foundation, will take place at the NIH. Both events will no doubt make
valuable contributions to the goals of TMJ Awareness Month.
Mr. Speaker, because I share the Glass' belief in the importance of
making the public more aware of the effects of Temporomandibular Joint
Disorders, I ask that the attached material describing TMJ in more
detail, as well as the foundation's mission statement, be entered into
the Record.
Jaw Joints--TMJ Awareness Month
Temporomandibular Joint Disorders, commonly referred to as
``TMJ,'' afflict millions of Americans, both children and
adults of both sexes and all races.
``TMJ'' is a painful and disabling disorder that emanates
from the Jaw Joints and can affect the health of the entire
neuro-musculo-skeletal system often spreading pain and
dysfunction throughout the body.
The Jaw Joints are the most special and complex joints in
the entire anatomy. While similar to other joints--cushioned
by cartilage, held together by ligaments, and moved by
muscles activated by nerves--they differ in their structure
which allows them to perform more functions than the other
joints in the body allowing the mandible [lower jaw] to
function in a five-way movement, i.e., from side-to-side,
forward-and-backward, up-and-down, and to ``open wide.''
Due to their location, the Jaw Joints are the pathway for
motor and sensory activities to and from the brain to the
rest of the body. Disorders to the Jaw Joints, therefore, can
upset the delicate balance of the neuro-musculo-skeletal
systems. Some of the diverse symptoms of this multi-faceted
TMJ disorder include inability to open or close the mouth
freely, difficulty in chewing and swallowing, headache, eye
pain, ringing and pain in the ears, leg cramps, fatigue, and
pain to the muscles throughout the entire body. Many of the
symptoms mimic or overlap with many other disorders, thereby
creating the popular designation for TMJ as ``The Great
Imposter,'' and its sufferers as ``Prisoners of Pain.''
While they are orthopedic joints like all other joints in
the body, care for the Jaw Joints and disorders to them
``falls between the cracks'' of medicine and dentistry, but
is largely directed into a dental and psychosomatic realm
despite the myriad of symptoms usually treated by physicians
and other non-dental health providers. TMJ has not yet been
established as a ``legitimate'' medical disorder, thereby
denying millions of Americans their fair entitlements to
health insurance and other benefits, as well as their dignity
and deprives them of decent quality of life. TMJ patients,
therefore, are further penalized by being physically,
emotionally, and financially broken.
The nation's pioneer TMJ patient advocacy organization,
established in 1982, the Jaw Joints & Allied Musculo-Skeletal
Disorders Foundation, Inc. [JJAMD] is headquartered in
Boston, Massachusetts. Among its many goals and missions is
the broader recognition of the importance of healthy Jaw
Joints to good oral and general health. It plans to establish
in-school programs to teach children, their teachers and
parents, the importance and function of the Jaw Joints, as
well as safety and prevention of injury to the Jaw Joints in
sports, play, and daily activities. JJAMD advocates for
recognition by the Medical Profession and their Societies,
Center for Disease Control [CDC,] the National Institutes of
Health [NIH], the Arthritis Foundation, and all others
concerning the need to include the Jaw Joints along with all
other joints for inclusion in their programs, appropriate
comprehensive research and reporting in the medical and
dental literature. JJAMD also encourages the Dental
Profession to work with the Medical Profession and to
establish a requisite TMJ Speciality training within their
professional schools.
JJAMD advocates for the creation of medical models and
medical protocols for the necessary appropriate health
insurance coverage for TMJ patients. This will help to end
the discrimination against millions of Americans who suffer
with this disorder with disastrous results--including the
thousands who have had silicone joint implants which have
failed. To this end, JJAMD has sponsored independent
research, holds free public lectures, encourages support/
self-help groups and has organized and conducted professional
lectures and national seminars. JJAMD has received the
support of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in
many of its activities and has become allied with another
leading patient advocacy organization. The TMJ Association,
Ltd., in efforts to support all TMJ suffers around the
country.
The ultimate aim of these actions is to alleviate the
untold preventable human suffering of to those afflicted with
TMJ as well as the needless high costs of health care
associated therewith. By designating November of each years
as ``Jaw Joints-TMJ Awareness Month'' awareness can be
increased among all Americans, and in particular those in a
position to help treat, insure, provide appropriate research
ultimately to prevent this scourge in our nation.
Jaw Joints & Allied Musculo-skeletal Disorders Foundation, Inc.
WHO WE ARE
The Jaw Joints & Allied Musculo-Skeletal Disorders
Foundation, Inc. [JJAMD] is a 501(c)(3) non-profit national
educational, research, and advocacy organization. It works in
promoting awareness, prevention, research, and knowledge of
the Jaw Joints to whole body health. The disorder to the
TemporoMandibular Joints [i.e., in layperson's term Jaw
Joints], is mostly known as ``TMJ Disorders.'' TMJ is one of
the most pervasive, least understood, and controversial
health disorders in existence today. TMJ is now acknowledged
as a component in other disorders, and is also called by a
variety of other names and acronyms, adding to the
controversy.
vision statement
JJAMD expresses its vision through the use of an axiom that
``Life Revolves Around the Jaw Joints in Every Motor and
Sensory activity 24 hours a day, awake or asleep.'' JJAMD
believes that the disorder to these TemporoMandibular
Joints--known primarily as ``TMJ Disorder''--is largely
preventable through a responsible and high quality program of
public awareness and education.
MISSION STATEMENT
The specific mission of JJAMD, is to network with TMJ
patients, the general public, health providers and their
affiliations and societies, governmental agencies, insurers,
and through liaison with the Massachusetts Department of
Public Health, in order to:
Foster appropriate comprehensive public awareness,
knowledge, education, research, and information concerning
the TemporoMandibular Joints [the Jaw Joints]--how they are
structured, their function, and their relationship to the
whole body for general good health.
Promote prevention of disorders and diseases to the Jaw
Joints and advocate for appropriate comprehensive perception,
medical/dental classification, diagnoses, and treatments for
TMJ Disorder.
Foster self-help-support groups through a National TMJ
Alliance. Exchange information with other organizations who
deal with disorders containing a TMJ component or
relationship.
Encourage the Medical and Dental professions to work
together in a multidisciplinary team effort to create a
medical model, protocols for appropriate research, diagnoses,
treatments, and responsible health insurance coverage.
Enlist the Medical/Dental School educators, and emergency
medical staff, to include within their curricula the routine
teaching of the TemporoMandibular Joints [TMJ] and the
disorders and diseases to them.
____________________
[Congressional Record: October 2, 1997 (Extensions)]
[Page E1899-E1900]
>From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr02oc97-19]