Every day, for 11 years in a row, Jim Boyd woke up with a headache. As a dental student at USC, he was the senior resident in their TMD clinic, but the classic splint therapy that he was taught somehow allowed his own headaches to intensify as he simply clenched harder on the splint than without one. Three years into private practice Dr. Boyd determined that it wasn't his occluSION that was the cause of his headaches, but the frequency, duration, and most importantly, the intensity of his occlud-ING, (that is, clenching), that was perpetuating his pain. A few years later, Dr. Boyd developed the therapeutic protocol for an "enhanced deprogrammer", a device that would provide for incisal guidance in any mandibular excursion, thereby minimizing clenching intensity. The device that we now know as the NTI, was ultimately approved by the FDA for the prevention of medically diagnosed migraine pain.
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Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran