Sleep & TMJ Therapy

Sleep & TMJ Therapy - General dentist in Falls Church, VA
2841 Hartland Rd #301, Falls Church, VA 22043
Closed
Opens today at 7:00am
SundayClosed
Monday7:00am - 4:00pm
Tuesday7:00am - 4:00pm
Wednesday7:00am - 4:00pm
Thursday7:00am - 4:00pm
Friday7:00am - 4:00pm
Saturday8:00am - 12:00pm

Since our number one goal is to get to the root of your discomfort and sleeping problems, we have limited our practice to TMD, Sleep Apnea and case finishing. That means we dont perform any general dentistry at all. Every day we focus on helping those with craniofacial pain and airway problems. We take patient care to an all new level of concierge customer service. Listed below are a few other reasons that set us apart.

Dr. Jeffrey L. Brown (link to team page) has extensive knowledge in the TMD/Sleep Apnea/Orthodontic field and is a sought after speaker around the world. He has traveled to South Korea, London, Dubai, Norway and Toronto lecturing about treatment options for patients and spreading the word about TMD and Sleep Apnea. Carrying this philosophy to his practice, he is incredibly passionate about making sure we have the best options available for our patients. To accomplish this, he has over 300 hours of training within the ALF academy, he is a Fellow with American Academy of Craniofacial Pain and is a member of several other organizations allowing for our practice to have access to new technology and advances. To make sure our patients are in great hands, every assistant on our clinical team is a Certified TMD Assistant through the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain. Our administrative team continues this level of care and excels in making sure your requests are handled efficiently while handling all aspects of scheduling, coordinating, pre-authorizations and insurance filing. Our team members attend conferences and trainings regularly so you the patient is provided and receives the best care possible.

Ourteam membersare current with the most up to date training on our equipment so you are cared for in a professional and highly effective manner. To diagnose and treatment plan, Dr. Jeffrey L. Brown performs a full examination of the TM joints, head, neck and facial region, as well as x-rays and MRI evaluations. Many doctors who help patients with TMD do not require MRIs. At Sleep & TMJ Therapy, we want to know the location of the discs prior to a treatment plan being developed. For additional diagnostic investigation, we use low radiation CBCT scans, airway analysis, digital scanning. All of which helps us to achieve an accurate picture, provide the best treatment plan, and achieve the optimal result. Our equipment is new and state of the art to ensure we are providing the most precise diagnosis and best treatment possible. Because of our intensive information gathering, patients withTMJ dysfunction, we are able to determine the pathological nature and extent of joint sounds as well as any injuries to the TM joint area. Afterwards, we can determine a realistic prognosis and treatment goals. Everyone wants to look and feel great and our team is ready to help. We are committed to providing you the highest quality service for yourTMD,Sleep ApneaorOrthodonticneeds.

With the use of todays advanced technologies, we take great pride in our ability to help each patient. Whether we are helping a child, or an adult achieve a better smile, corrected bite, or alleviate pain, our team can do this through our proven systems that works! Our screening process allows for prevention of a problem before it happens.

Many doctors try to handle all aspects of treatment themselves. In some cases, this works. However, in other cases, outside specialists are needed. Since Dr. Jeffrey L. Brown is known for helping patients with mild to extreme cases, he is not afraid to involve a team of doctors. It is our number one goal to get to the root of your symptoms and address the underlying problems. Many times, this requires the assistance of a team of specialists. Dr. Brown will guide you in the correct direction. Teamwork is a very important aspect of treatment since TMD and Sleep Apnea affects the whole body. A few specialists we work with are listed below:

As an additional courtesy for our patients, our administrative team will handle all necessary pre-authorizations and obtain health and dental benefits from your insurance carriers once the treatment plan has been established. This provides you a complete treatment plan before moving forward with any remedy. After treatment begins, the courtesy continues with filing your medical and/or dental claims at each visit so you can receive your reimbursements directly. Our goal with the filing process is to allow you and the doctor to focus on getting you better while we take care of the filing. This is just one of the many services we offer for our patients.

The team and I would like to offer special thanks to Dr. Stack, who, although is no longer with us, continues to inspire us from his dedication to help others over the course of his career. His belief in us has made our journey possible. Dr. Brown

Dr. Stack had been treatingTMJ problems, headache, face pain, ear pain and bad bites for over 40 years during his career. In that time, he had repeatedly encountered problems just like yours and treated them successfully.

He had a special interest in treatingTMJ disordersand how this treatment might also help Tourettes patients, particularly teenagers and preteens. Over the years, he noticed that the overwhelming majority of these patients had facial tics, eye blinking, eyelid tics, mouth tics, head nodding, shoulder shrugging and head tremors. He treated these patients asTMJpatients (jaw joint clicking, locking and limited mouth opening) for pain but also noticed all of these tics dissipating at the same time. When word started spreading throughout the healthcare community that he could get rid of these associated tics, Tourettes patients started coming. He was very successful in ridding them of these comorbid conditions.

His specialized treatment does not call for any psychotherapy or drugs; it requires only the wearing of a dental mouthpiece that is not noticeable to others. This mouthpiece realigns the lower jaw so that it is in a better position beneath the base of the skull and is no longer misaligned. Dr. Stack believed that the basis of most of the comorbid Tourettes Syndrome and other movement disorders such as Cervical Dystonia and Parkinsons Disease are basically a misalignment of the mandible to the skull base due to some type ofTMJ internal derangement.

Sleep & TMJ Therapy - General dentist in Falls Church, VA

TMJ and sleep disorders are very common but not really understood. This can explain why myths or misconceptions are out there. The other side of this coin is this is also commonly misdiagnosed because symptoms vary from person to person and are similar to other problems. One example of similarities is with Lyme Disease. This is caused by a tick bite and the symptoms could be: chronic headaches or migraines, jaw pain, and tingling in the hand or fingers. Notable, symptoms of TMJ disorder. The big difference is Lyme Disease does not have the clicking and popping or vertigo additional symptoms of TMJ disorder. There are other examples as well: Migraines, Trigeminal Neuralgia (short, sharp pain from touching of the jaw joint) or even a Ganglion Cyst (on the TM joint causing swelling and jaw pain).

Just remember all of us get sore muscles from time to time. The big difference is when the muscles in your jaw joints get sore and the soreness does not go away. This is when you should ask your dentist for a referral. Otherwise, you could be prolonging the unnecessary pain or soreness and allowing the disc to possibly become further damaged. TMJ disorder does affect other parts of your body. The myth of no popping or clicking means no TMJ disorder is not true. These displaced discs can cause other symptoms of neck pain, backache, loss of balance, or hearing loss with out the clicking or popping.

Another common myth is TMJ disorder is harmless and living with it will not cause problems. It is true this condition is non-life-threating but at the same time it should be addressed. Some possible development would be bruxism. This process causes grinding of your teeth and clenching wearing down your tooths enamel and can cause sleep issues. If the tooth enamel is worn down, then the potential of decay or tooth loss becomes greater.

For the sleep side of things, sleep can be interrupted by the clenching and grinding of your teeth. Interrupted sleep or waking up unrefreshed is a symptom of both TMJ disorder and sleep apnea. It is not considered just a sleep issue. The myth of sleep issues come with age is not exactly true. The aging process does decrease the tone in muscles and the airway muscles are not immune to this. The muscles in the airway no longer hold the jaw in the correct place and in turn the airway becomes restricted. Your body is now fighting harder to breath. The use of a CPAP is the only treatment for sleep apnea is another myth. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has determined the oral sleep appliance is very effective for mild to moderate apnea index. This index tells us how many times your sleep is interrupted within a night. The Epworth scale (tiredness level) in conjunction with apnea index can determine if the oral appliance will be effective.

An interesting myth, sleeping on your side cures sleep apnea, actually helps with sleep apnea but does not cure it. By sleep on your side, the tongue is not relaxed enough to obstruct the airway by falling back into the throat creating a blockage. The tongue is off to the side allowing air to pass through the airway. This is noted with mild cases of sleep apnea. The side sleeping is most definitely not a cure but recommended a lot for positional apnea.

There are so many more myths out there for both TMJ and sleep disorders. Always consult with your dentist or physician when it comes to these issues. You do want to address these symptoms because both these conditions will affect your brain and in turn effect cognitive functions, generating higher stress, and possible memory loss.

Reviews

Rating 4.7 out of 5 based on 131 reviews

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Fishman
a year ago
Always professional, always polite, and the service always comes with a smile.


Stacey Webster
2 years ago
Tamyra is awesome, she always makes me feel comfortable even then she has to dig in my mouth. I appreciate her friendliness and professionalism.


Sandra Webb
2 years ago
Dr. Brown was the one person who could provide answers for my jaw pain after nearly two years without answers from a dentist, physical therapist, oral surgeon, chiropractor, and other doctors. He was also the only doctor whose treatment provided results and pain relief. All of the staff are kind and knowledgeable, but I've primarily worked with Karina, who is wonderful. She always hears my concerns, makes the office welcoming, and makes my appointments are quick and easy as possible. The office also provided me with other resources necessary to manage my jaw problems, including a phenomenal physical therapist with certifications in TMJ.


Macie S.
2 years ago
I did a lot of research before making an appt for a consultation. Dr. Brown's website was very informative which gave me the impression he knew his job well. He exceeded my expectations when I met him. He was knowledgable, thorough in explaining the issues and solution process as well as costs. He seemed genuinely caring, he actually listened, and wanted to coordinate care with my chiro. His care plan is well rounded, not just a bandaid with meds, an actual solution fixing the route of the problem. Because of this I cancelled the other consultation I had with a different practice. I feel confident on returning to begin the care plan with him.


Matthew Stitt
2 years ago
Update September 2022: Going through the TMJ treatment was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It's been a year and half since I had the surgery and my life has improved so much. I no longer experience clicking or popping in my jaw and the daily pain and migraines are gone. Dr. Brown's treatment plan is different than other practices, so if you're considering treatment, look no further. Before I found Dr. Brown and his team I went through a treatment plan by a general dentistry that "treats TMJ". That "treatment" made my TMJ so much worse, which is actually what drove me to find a specialist such as Dr. Brown. Fast forward to now and my TMJ is gone. I cannot recommend Sleep & TMJ Therapy enough! Update March 2021: I had my TMJ surgery 4 weeks ago and I can confidently say this was one of the best decisions I've ever made. My jaw feels normal and no longer clicks. My discs were permanently dislocated before and caused me daily migraines and deprived me of sleep. Even though I still have more recovery to go and case finishing, I couldn't be happier. I haven't had a migraine since before the surgery and I'm actually sleeping quite well. You can't go wrong with Dr. Brown. Don't hesitate and at least go in for a consult if you're having TMJ issues. Original review ~early 2020: I just started treatment for my TMJ issues that I've had for about 15 years and was caused by my orthodontist at the time when I had braces. It's hard to say how well the treatment will work at this phase, but I am very confident in Dr. Brown and the treatment plan. I had another TMJ doctor prior to him and consulted with a number of others. First of all, this is not a general dentistry that treats TMJ. This is a specialized practice that ONLY treats TMJ and related sleep issues. I cannot emphasize how important that is! The general dentistry treatment plans are totally inadequate and have a history of causing more issues and they are all the same! Dr. Brown is extremely knowledgeable and stepped me through all my MRIs and X-rays and explained what is going on and how he will treat it. I cannot wait to finally end this daily agony from TMJ. I highly recommend!


Janna Kirr
2 years ago
Dr. Brown and his staff are amazing- they explained everything very clearly and worked with our insurance to help us get reimbursement for the appliances. Would highly recommend!


Karen Wooten
2 years ago
Dr Brown is unique in that he is not only an expert, but also able to create treatment plans that are doable. That is to say, he makes you a partner in your own treatment and is able to present options based on other life or health issues that come up. He and his staff are also really nice and always run on time. He has helped me and my two young daughters.


Maria Fisher
2 years ago
In 2017, my wife and I were going through what can only be described as a terrifying nightmare, our son was 9 years old. Prior to this time, our son was exhibiting subtle involuntary movements that increased in scope with each passing week. We were initially told by doctors that his actions were common and were referred to as "tics". But as the weeks advanced, so too did our son's "tics" ---to the point that my wife and I recognized that this was neither ordinary, nor common and getting worse by the day. Experts eventually told us that our son was borderline TS (or suffered from complex tic disorder) for which "there is no cure!", there was not much to do to really help him and that the problem was only going to get worse during adolescence. The suffering and pain that we experienced were beyond words. After so much research and prayer, we discovered Dr. Brown, and his miraculous treatment for such disorders. Early in 2018 Dr. Brown assessed our son's behavior and after his initial treatment we recognized the progressive improvement in all the aspects. It has been 4-years with Dr. Brown and my wife, and I both conclude that what we have witnessed (95% tics gone so the rest of issues) is nothing short of miraculous! If you find yourself in a similar predicament, I implore you to not lose hope and please seek Dr. Brown's advice. He is truly the best at what he does. He told us that our son's case is one of the most difficult that he ever had. We live in Texas, so we had to travel for this treatment every two months for 4 years + what has been not easy but we can say with all honesty that the treatment is worth every penny of it. We will not have enough words to thank Dr. Brown and his team for bringing our life back and making our son a happy, healthy, and very well-balanced young man again.


Christopher Foster
2 years ago
Everyone is always professional and courteous.


Robyn Lilly
2 years ago
Shout out to Dr Brown he is so kind and caring and was there for me when I needed help last minute before leaving on vacation. The office was actually closed and he personally opened up to help me!! I am so grateful to him!! Thank you so much Dr. Brown!


Team Metro
2 years ago
Dr. Brown is an amazing doctor. He is so knowledgeable and has literally changed my life. Free from pain. I've always been seen by Karina and she is kind and you can tell she is truly passionate about her patients.


Mehul Prajapati
2 years ago
Very professional Very nice staff Always takes me in on time Dr brown listens to concerns and gives ample time and do not rush in hurry


Heather Brown
2 years ago
I'm not sure where I would be without Dr. Brown. After 13 years and two surgeries with other well-meaning dentists and surgeons, I still had joint pain, frequent headaches and no functional bite. But Dr Brown got me on the right path. He put function and comfort of the TM joint above cosmetics and that is how I am able to continue working full-time. His office is highly professional, but also kind and I am grateful to have found them!


Sarita Oliden de Javier
2 years ago
(Translated by Google) So far I have received excellent care. Dr. Brown and assistants are very professional and warm in their treatment. I am still in my TMJ treatment, every day I feel better. Thank you (Original) Hasta el momento he recibido una atencion excelente. El Dr. Brown y asistentes son muy profesionales y calidos en su trato. Aun sigo en mi tratamiento de TMJ , cada dia me siento mejor. Gracias


Luke Huggins
2 years ago
I've been coming here since middle school (currently when writing this I'm 21) to help with Tourette's syndrome as well as OCD, and over the years of having retainers I went from almost constant ticks to absolutely none, my OCD has also subsided to controllable levels, I highly recommend these people if you are having some of the same issues that I have had.


Nani Bernard
2 years ago
Dr. Brown is a truly compassionate and highly effective Doctor. I cannot recommend him and his staff enough! I am lucky to have found him. Usually, I dread Doctor's appointments but each visit at Dr. Brown's office was a pleasure. They care deeply about their patients and go above and beyond with their care and service.


Amy Hunt
2 years ago
I'm still going through my treatment process, but the folks here have been so helpful and informative at showing me the severity of my TMJ problems and putting together a treatment plan. Is the treatment fun? Of course not haha, but the all of the people here make it worth going through. I'm only a few months in but the pain I was experiencing has been reduced so much that I know it's working already.


Jolie Dao
2 years ago
Dr. Brown and his staff are exceptionally supportive and caring! Especially Karina! She was there for me when I needed help most! I can't be thankful enough! Great experience overall!


Joanna Chenaille
2 years ago
I went to see two doctors who did not seem to understand what kind of pain I was in and diminished my pain or tried to tell me I needed all types of expensive treatments without explaining the why. On first meeting with Dr. Brown and his team, I finally felt like someone was listening and explaining why I was experiencing the pain I had. It was such a relief to know someone knew how to treat the jaw tightness I was experiencing. Every time I come in I feel welcomed and reassured that they are fully on board with helping me heal and experience less pain in my day to day life. They are also very accessible, especially Karina, always willing to answer any questions I have during appointments or via email. If you have jaw pain, I highly recommend Sleep and TMJ Therapy!


Andrea Pinto
2 years ago
Highly recommend to anyone who needs laser treatment !! Everyone in the office is so nice and provided me with the information I needed .


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