Dr. Karkow is originally from Racine and went to dental school at Marquette Dental School. She graduated in 1992 and went on to do a General Practice Residency in Madison, WI. There, Dr. Karkow worked under a TMJ surgeon. In her residency, Dr. Karkow observed TMJ surgery and managed trauma patients, among other duties. She attended the University of Minnesota TMJ and Orofacial Pain residency in Minneapolis from 1993-1995. There, she studied under world renowned TMJ specialists including Dr. Eric Schiffman and Dr. James Fricton. Dr. Karkow obtained her Masters in TMD and Orofacial Pain in 1995 before returning to Milwaukee to begin full time private practice. Dr. Karkow has limited her practice to TMD and Orofacial pain for the past 25 years.
In her free time, Dr. Karkow enjoys spending time with family and friends the most but also enjoys cooking, reading, travel, and sports. She recently completed the Disney Princess Half Marathon and hopes to do more in the future.
Many people do not know exactly what TMJ is. Thats understandable because a TMJ disorder includes the jaw joints, the muscles of the head and neck, the teeth, the nerves of the jaw/face/neck, the salivary glands and ears, among others which make up the components of the TMJ complex. Many people are referred to be evaluated even though they dont have traditional clicking and popping noises from their jaw.
The temporomandibular joints (TMJs) are located in front of the ear and are used in talking, chewing, and swallowing. They are the only joint that is one bone but 2 different joints. That means, you can actually have 2 different conditions in the same jaw. The jaw joint moves through the actions of the muscles in both the jaw and neck. In order for your jaw to move correctly, both the muscles and the jaw joints need to work in harmony. When a problem occurs with one or both joints, it creates a TMJ disorder (TMD).
Just like in any joint of the body, there is a disc between the bones to cushion the joint. In cases of clicking, popping, locking, or crunching noises, the disc has become dislodged. Functioning on an injured joint can cause pain and difficulty moving the joint. We use orthopedic appliances to take pressure off the joint to help the TMJs heal.
No joint of the body moves without muscles. In some cases, a muscle in the jaw can spasm, causing localized jaw/facial pain. In other cases, a long-standing jaw injury and disc problem can lead to persistent muscle pain around the injured joint. We often utilize physical therapy in our treatment to help heal injured muscles.
In some cases, a team approach using physical therapists, Ear Nose Throat, Neurologists, Rheumatologists (Arthritis doctors), dentists and dental specialists work with Dr. Karkow to solve the individuals needs. However, Dr. Karkow feels the biggest team member in the plan is the patient!