Boston Collaborative for TMD Research

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

The Boston Collaborative for Temporomandibular Disorders (BCTMD) consists of preexisting, interrelated components which currently function within the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM), and Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM). The BCTMD collaborative consist of a robust clinical practice - Orofacial Pain (OFP) and Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) surgery, a research collaborative where the group has developed several evidence-based local registries, a large data bank of TMJ synovial and joint biopsies, a regenerative medicine laboratory focused on cellular and molecular TMJ research, community outreach programs, and training programs students, research fellows and practicing clinicians. The goal of the BCTMD is to understand TMJ patient needs, the gaps in dental school curricula in TMD, gaps in healthcare delivery affecting access to care, the need for further basic and applied research to advance our knowledge of TMJ disease, and to ensure that TMD services, both diagnostic and treatment, are the right ones for each patient, and are proven to be safe, accurate and effective. The BCTMD intends to achieve these goals by working within a national framework of TMD IMPACT stakeholders to elucidate these barriers, develop national registries for a better understanding of our patients and disease processes, target treatment strategies through basic and clinical research, enhance translation of evidence-based findings to clinical care, and lastly, use this national TMD IMPACT framework to train the future generation of researchers and clinicians. Implementation of these main goals of the collaborative requires infrastructure, a team of clinicians, researchers, educators as well as resources and BCTMD is perfectly positioned to meet these goals. The TMD IMPACT study will be a 5-year study. Our goals for Year 1 will be 1. To build collaborations nationally through scientific meetings, form a central Executive Committee and establish priorities for research. 2. Present these findings at national meetings and generate publications 3. Planning infrastructure for development of evidence based national patient registries for implementing data sharing, coordination, harmonization and interoperability within the TMD IMPACT 4. Fortify the education and CE programs with previously identified collaborators. The next four years will be used in implementing these nationwide registries, developing tools for enhancing clinical and basic science research using these registries, developing curriculum for TMD training, increasing community outreach, and participation of patient advocacy groups.