“Our success is due to the fact that we are able to help so many people either improve or regain their lives.”
A general dentist for 20 years just “dabbling” in temporomandibular disorder (TMD), Dr. Jeffrey L. Brown realized he was not happy just fixing teeth—he craved something more rewarding. He found that focusing on TMD fit the bill. For him, enabling someone to return to work after years of disability, helping a spouse stop snoring and return to sleeping in the same bed with their “better half,” or watching a young woman go from being curled up in pain every afternoon to becoming a teacher in a private school made each day worthwhile.
“I believe our success is due to the fact that we are able to help so many people either improve or regain their lives,” says Dr. Brown. “Most people we treat are not able to function well, cannot work or simply are in so much pain they cannot enjoy life. Many of these people improve so much that they can re-enter society and regain their happy family life. This is why we are successful.”
Dr. Brown also treats patients who have temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders. He finds that many cases of back pain, headache and neck pain are associated with TMJ. He also treats sleep-disordered breathing and counsels on how the head/neck correlates with TMJ disorders, helping his patients understand why it is so important to treat all the problems simultaneously. “Seeing a patient’s tears of joy when they tell me how I have made their life better is easily the most satisfying part of my job,” he says.