TMJ Specialists

Our Methodology is a revolution in TMJ Diagnosis and Treatment. We have developed novel imaging, analyzing and orthotic design technologies to support and refine our non-incisive atlas positioning technology. We combine this with leading dental interventions and non-surgical, non-PAP treatments for sleep, sleep disordered breathing and TMJ dysfunction. Our true specialty is creating well-humans through lasting results. We make the changes that you want to keep. 

Our treatment focuses and specializes on the initial alignment procedure of the head and neck junction through use of an image-guided procedure that we call TAP. TAP stands for Transdermal Atlas Positioning.

The TAP procedure is the current state-of-the-art in upper cervical image-guided adjustment. 

The TAP procedure is performed on an Mach IV Sweat Instrument developed by the late Dr. Roy Sweat, Sr., and requires no incisive surgery or prolonged recovery. The TAP procedure is painless, can be performed same-day and usually precedes immediate changes in airway, bite posture, cerebral blood flow, brainstem decongestion and yes, TMJ dysfunction and pain. These are changes that you can feel! 

Imaging taken following the TAP procedure allows us to verify intended changes in the alignment of the atlas, axis and occiput, as well as improvements in the upper airway, bite posture and TMJ status. The reason restoring proper positioning of the skull on the upper cervical spine is important is because our left and right temporal bones (the “T” of TMJ) stitch or suture into the central occipital bone which rests entirely upon the atlas-axis vertebrae. If this craniocervical subluxation is not corrected, an a complete treatment of TMJ dysfunction is not accomplished since misalignment of the skull base on the spine translates into mechanical stress on the TMJ’s. During the TAP procedure, it is important that we achieve the desired changes to both of these systems. Once this is accomplished we are able to design and build our Equibite Atlas Retention device which performs several very important functions. So important in fact, that we feel this is what is missing from some of the conventional TMJ treatment protocols, which use archaic bite-guard technology, and ignore cranio-vertebral relationships. There, it important to make this distinction: the Equibite is not a “bite-guard”. It is a proprioceptive orthotic that guides and preserves a healthy restoration of TMJ posture in what we refer to as a Decompensated Centric Relationship between the Temporal bones and the Mandible. This new TMJ position rehabilitates the structures and systems that are always stressed in TMJ disorders.

1. The Temporomandibular Joint capsules
2. The Left and Right Temporal bones as the rest on the occiput (skull base)
3. The Mandibular condyle and the Temporal fossa (think of a boat in a slip, where the boat is the condyle and the temporal bone is the slip) 
4. The intracapsular environment. Discs, synovium and neurovascular tissues.
5. Intracapsular pressures. 

It does all of the above crucial healing functions while preserving the head, neck and jaw postures which prevents relapse of the TAP procedure! The jaw joints and craniocervical junction joints are less than an inch apart and function on the same motion planes. You simply cannot think about one, without thinking about the other, as they are tied together like the heads and tails of a coin. When you see the TAP being performed in the image above, the procedure literally passes through the TMJ system to position the Atlas. The Equibite brings stability and balance to both systems. We believe that the Equibite technology is a must in rehabilitating complex TMJ Disorders.

Our retention device is called the Equibite. The Equibite is a comfortable, discreet intra-oral orthotic that helps prevent relapse of the TAP procedure by maintaining the positive changes in airway, lower jaw position and the atlas joint complex. Because it mimics and mirrors the upper teeth anatomy and correlates to ideal atlas position, we hear that the Equibite is the most comfortable and natural orthotic our patients have ever worn.

With the Equibite in place, the body can rehabilitate movement and posture dysfunction upon the Equibite platform over a short period of time, several months depending on the state of the TMJ’s. The science is solid, and the results speak for themselves.

With over a 95% success rate in treating migraines, TMJ disorders and sleep disordered breathing, we feel that we are offering the best hope for success to our TMJ suffering patients in Salt Lake City… and beyond.