How can precision medicine be applied to temporomandibular disorders and its comorbidities?

The Eighth Scientific Meeting of The TMJ Association, Ltd. was held in Bethesda, Maryland, September 11-13, 2016. As in the past, the meeting was cosponsored by components of the National Institutes of Health with speakers invited to review the state of temporomandibular disorder science and propose recommendations to further progress. The theme of precision medicine, which aims to tailor disease treatment and prevention to match the characteristics of an individual patient (genetic, epigenetic, environmental, lifestyle) underscored the current consensus that temporomandibular disorders are no longer viewed as local conditions of jaw pain and dysfunction. Rather, they represent a complex family of biopsychosocial disorders that can progress to chronic pain, most often accompanied by one or more other chronic pain conditions. Temporomandibular disorders and these comorbidities, called chronic overlapping pain conditions, predominantly or exclusively affect women in their childbearing years and reflect central nervous system sensitization. Presenters at the meeting included leaders in temporomandibular disorder and pain research, temporomandibular disorder patients and advocates, and experts in other fields or in the use of technologies that could facilitate the development of precision medicine approaches in temporomandibular disorders.

Meeting commentary: Santa Fe Group Salon Expanding Oral Healthcare for America's Seniors, September 28-30, 2016.

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW: A meeting to explore ways to expand access to oral health care for seniors-possibly by expanding a dental benefit in Medicare-was convened in Arlington, VA, by the Santa Fe Group. Four factors motivated the meeting: PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The model Medicare dental benefit presented generated much discussion. There was agreement that any dental benefit must attract participating dentists. Agreement was also reached on the importance of public demonstration projects to further establish cost savings from dental care for patients with comorbid diseases, the need to collaborate with nondental advocacy and policy groups to establish that overall health benefits for seniors are gained by adding oral health care, and the necessity of oral health literacy campaigns working directly at the community level with the general public and others, including educators and the media, as well as with policy makers and providers from all health fields and at all levels of professional training.