The jaw joint (or temporomandibular joint) is not a fixed hinge, but a more complex structure where the location of the axis of rotation changes and simultanously translates as the jaws opens.
Meet Philip H. Levy, DDS
Developer of the "Levy Lingual Shelf," and a noted lecturer, teacher and clinician, Dr. Levy has made an intensive study of the stomatognathic system.
A 22-page monograph by Dr. Philip Levy explanding upon his presntation in the Symposium on "An Alterable Centric Relation In Denistry." Includes case studies of patients and follow-up care for up to 11 years post-treatment.
Dr. Philip Levy was a Guest Editor for a Symposium on "An Alterable Centric Relation In Denistry" published in the July 1975 issue of the Dental Clinics of North America.
The issue includes 10 articles contributed by respected educators and researchers in the fields of physiology, anatomy, endocrinology, and history.
Dr. Levy’s Comments On The AJO-DO article
The editor in chief of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Dr. Vincent G. Kokich, is deserving of much credit and praise for having the courage to exhume the controversy regarding the relationship between dental malocclusion and TMD. The role of occlusion had supposedly been discredited - that role having been taken over by virtually every shade of “health practitioner” in a group called “The American Academy of Orofacial Pain.”
The new causality for TMD/TMJ disorders is said to be “multi-factorial” (a potpourri idiopathic copout!).
This group, having gained power and control of teaching and curricula of TMJ in the dental schools has an agenda. Its goal is to gain recognition by the American Dental Association as the legitimate speciality of TMJ.
Ironically, this writer was an original charter member of this group, which was composed principally of orthodontists at that time under the name “The American Academy of Cranio-mandibular Disorders.” In 1983, at its annual convention in Chicago, with its name changed to the American Academy of Orofacial Pain, this writer was a guest speaker. The material presented closely mirrored the concepts and treatment results shown in this website. Not a single dissenting voice was raised or heard.
In the January 2011 issue of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dento-facial Orthopedics the views expressed by Professor Charles Greene ( a leading teacher and proponent of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain) are totally at odds with the treatment results shown and documented in this presentation.
This writer seems to have violated every concept advocated by Dr. Greene -- and has done so for close to 50 years!
For example:
• Orthodontic (Functional Jaw Orthopedic) and simultaneous TMJ care rendered to the 49-year-old patient cited on this website -- treating adults is a “no-no,” according to Dr. Greene.
• Her treatment certainly did not place her mandible to a retruded position, “reasonable” or otherwise.
Treatment was not selected from the universe of conservative and reversible procedures. Her selected care was chosen to be totally irreversible.
• It definitely involved occlusion-changing jaw realignment.
• Treatment did not aim for management success, but rather for CURE.
• Finally, Dr. Greene warns his orthodontic students to not accept patients with significant TMJ findings, and suggests that they be turned away: “Orthodontists need to say NO to their referring dentists.”
Obviously this writer and Dr. Greene are worlds apart. Patients must be put first! Alleviating their symptoms (with a practical, physiologically-based treatment) trumps all the claims by various interest groups who are seeking a “piece of the TMJ pie.”