World Globe Image

VOLUME 48, ISSUE 1

FEBRUARY 2022

Myotronics is excited to announce the relaunch of MYO-SCOPE, our quarterly newsletter established in 1974. MYO-SCOPE will bring you the latest NMD news, clinical tips (MyoPearls), company announcements, and more. This issue focuses on the global expansion and increasing acceptance of NMD and the importance of treating malocclusion. See the October 2021 study published by Cenzato, Nobili, and Maspero below.

2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

EDUCATING THE WORLD

Despite 2021’s challenges, Myotronics remained strong, resilient, and had a very successful year. Even with the impact of Covid, we witnessed an increasing interest in and global acceptance of NMD.

Myotronics On-Demand and online courses continued to generate global interest in NMD in 2021 with 100s of U.S. and international dentists participating from 12 countries. Even dentists from these off-the-radar countries attended Myotronics online courses in 2021 and started their NM journey with a J5 or a J5/K7 combination: UAE, Yemen, Bahrain, Laos, Vietnam, the Palestinian Territories, Israel, and Hong Kong.

There are now 13 CE organizations outside of the U.S. that provide NMD courses using Myotronics devices. L’Académie du Sourire, the largest CE organization in France has adopted NM Occlusion and sold out its first series of 4 courses and has already taken registrations for the next series of courses that extend to 2023! With French dental schools underscoring the importance of occlusion in dentistry, and the University of Toulouse’s Master’s Degree in NM Occlusion, France is becoming the next hotbed for the spread and growth of NMD.

In addition, there are now over 150 universities in 31 countries that have at least one K7 System. These K7s are used in research, university clinics, or as part of the NM curriculum taught at some of these schools.

PARTNER BENEFITS

Is Your Website Registered With Us?

Myotronics NEW website features an online registry of NM dentists that links your practice website with patients visiting our Patient Page in search of information about and treatment for TMD/TMJ. If you are a K7 owner, register your website today by sending an email to jaclynk@myotronics.com. We are proud to offer a platform for patients to connect with doctors who can provide this life-changing treatment.

Online Ordering Makes Free Shipping A Reality

We have streamlined our operation to better serve you. One way that we did this in 2021 was by making the shift to exclusively taking online supply orders. With our new website’s ease of use, 100% of U.S. supply orders in the last quarter of 2021 were placed online, making free (US) and subsidized (Canada) shipping for orders over $150 possible.

JUST PUBLISHED

Prevalence of Dental Malocclusions in Different Geographical Areas: Scoping Review

Malocclusion’s “prevalence is highly variable and is estimated to be between 39% and 93% in children and adolescents.”

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) considers malocclusion one of the most important oral health problems, after caries and periodontal disease. Its prevalence is highly variable and is estimated to be between 39% and 93% in children and adolescents. Due to the importance of malocclusions in dentistry, the aim of our review is to assess the frequency of malocclusions among different geographical regions. A literature research was performed through the Pubmed, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, LILACS, Open Grey, and Cochrane Library databases. The “PRISMA” guidelines were used for the following review. Fourteen studies were analysed for this review. Class I was found most frequently, followed by class II and finally class III. Considering the other anomalies, crowding was one of the most frequent with a prevalence of up to 84%, followed by spacing, which reached a frequency of 60%. Prevalence of crossbite and openbite was quite variable, while the evaluation of deepbite revealed more uniform values. The prevalence varied widely for most of the types of malocclusion in relation to the different populations, which suggests a role of genetics and environmental influences, typical of each population in determining dental problems.

MYO-PEARL

Reasons for No Mandibular Movement with the J5 Dental TENS

Have you had a patient who does not respond to the J5 Dental TENS pulse, no matter how high you turn up the amplitude??

Be sure the stimulation sites are thoroughly cleaned, check the electrode placement, and confirm proper connection of the leads to the electrodes (pulse indicators on the J5 should be flashing which confirms there is proper patient-electrode-cable connection). In large patients, moving the “common” electrode high up to the hairline shortens the current path from the bilateral electrodes and reduces the current needed to pulse the patient.

Often the lack of response is due to severe chronic hypertonicity of the mandibular and cervical muscles. The “clinical threshold” for the first rise of the mandible is very high for these patients. Hypertonicity has been building up for years in some cases and can not be deprogrammed in just 45 minutes. Continue pulsing the patient– it may take a couple of hours to see the first rise of the mandible. Pulsing the patient in a comfortable chair with lights off, eyes closed and soft music can help. Getting any movement is good news. As the patient relaxes, less stimulus is required to initiate a response and the movement will gradually increase. Sometimes, there is no choice but to send the BNS-40, the take-home version of the J5, out with the patient for pulsing the day before and on the day of examination.

NMD NEWS

Ira Shapira, DDS, FICCMO named Editor in Chief of CRANIO

We are pleased to inform you of the recent promotion of Dr. Ira Shapira to the position of Editor in Chief of CRANIO, The Journal of Craniomandibular & Sleep Practice. Having worked on the journal for the last 4 years, he is highly regarded for the many notable contributions he has brought to the journal due to his superb knowledge of the fields of TMD and Dental Sleep.

Congratulations to Dr. Shapira for this well-deserved success. It is also a significant feather in NM’s cap for a dedicated neuromuscular dentist to take over the helm at Cranio, the oldest and largest peer-reviewed journal specific to TMD and Sleep!

2022: LOOKING AHEAD

SOFTWARE VERSION 18.0

The K7 software version 18.0 is undergoing final testing. Among the many new clinical features, Version 18.0 makes use of the K7x’s exclusive MAX technology to track patient head posture.

The K7x monitors the current position and max roll/pitch of the head during each K7 jaw tracking scan. Version 18.0 also records, displays, and stores the ROM of the head in the Sagittal and Frontal planes, an important aspect of the evaluation of TMD and Sleep Apnea patients and an extraordinary benchmark for successful diagnosis and treatment. Version 18.0 will be the first K7 software verified and validated for use with both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

More CE Options In More Formats

Myotronics is proud to continue to bring you NEW Continuing Education courses in an assortment of formats that make comprehensive training easy and efficient.

Whether you take an In-Person, On-Demand Video, or Online course via Zoom, you will learn the latest clinical techniques from active and successful dentists with extensive clinical experience in the diagnosis, treatment, and case management of TMD, OSA, and reconstruction patients.

Use our course map to help navigate the best CE plan for your office, and stay tuned for NEW courses coming this year!