You may have heard us say it or seen it on our website: Dr. James is one of few board-certified Diplomates of the American Board of Orofacial Pain and the only one here in Arkansas. It’s a credential we’re proud of, but what the heck does it mean?
Orofacial pain (OFP) is a broad term encompassing the diagnosis and treatment of pain disorders of the jaw, mouth, face, head, and neck. This discipline seeks to understand the underlying cause and perpetuating factors behind woes like headaches and TMJ pain, getting to the real source of the problem — not just masking symptoms.
OFP is one of the newer specialties in dentistry as recognized by the American Dental Education Association. As it’s still an up-and-coming discipline, there are only a handful of universities offering OFP programs, including Harvard, Tufts, and — Dr. James’s alma mater — UCLA.
It was at UCLA where Dr. James learned the ins and outs of the tricky trigeminal nerve, or Cranial Nerve V, and how it can “refer” pain. In other words, the pain you feel in your head could, for example, actually be emanating from the upper back or neck.
Today Dr. James combines his orofacial pain and orthodontic expertise to both detect the source of pain and provide comprehensive treatment options to squash the problem long-term.
For example, oftentimes we can’t relieve ourselves from pain because of poor breathing and thus inadequate, broken sleep – devastating for the body’s restorative processes and reduction of inflammation (which causes or increases the perception of pain). Orthodontic techniques like palatal expansion can dramatically improve breathing and sleeping, alleviating pain, plus giving you a wider, more beautiful smile!
During an initial OFP appointment, Dr. James spends a considerable amount of time charting the patient’s history to identify and rule out pain factors, in addition to the evaluation. He typically offers education and physical therapy-type exercises that patients can do on their own before moving to options such as trigger point injections, mouth guards, or other orthodontic treatments like palatal expansion.
Dr. James on his UCLA graduation day in 2017. He's pictured with the late Dr. Robert Merrill, a pioneer for advancing the education and credentialing of orofacial pain.
If you’d like to learn more or believe you could benefit from an OFP evaluation, call the OZO team at (479) 485-4339 to schedule an appointment with Dr. James.
Did you know… TMJ doesn’t actually refer to any kind of pain. In fact, everyone has a temporomandibular joint! The more proper term is TMJ disorder or TMD — temporomandibular disorder. We know, it’s a mouthful! (Get it?)
While living in Los Angeles, Dr. James developed a deep love of photography. Here's one of his shots of the UCLA campus.