PHILOSOPHY OF TREATMENT

If you, or someone you love, is suffering from chronic headaches, TMJ-related pain, snoring, sleep apnea or other sleep-disordered breathing problems, you’ve come to the right place! We’re here for you with effective solutions and a whole lot more... like gentle care, understanding for what you’re going through, and a genuine commitment to your total health.

At Craniofacial Pain Associates of Oklahoma, we serve individuals of all ages whose quality of life is diminished due to dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint (i.e., jaw joints) and/or craniofacial (i.e., head, face and neck) structures.

Improving quality of life is our primary focus. It is what makes us different. And it explains why patients from all over Oklahoma and across the Midwest (as well as their dentists and physicians) trust our credentials to deliver consistently excellent care – care the gets results – for more than 30 years.

We treat each patient with compassion, understanding and personal attention.
We understand our patients’ pain and believe that patients are partners in treatment.
We find the cause of your problem, and we treat it with the combination of therapies that is right for you.
We use a multidisciplinary approach, working closely with your personal physicians plus leading experts in the fields of craniofacial pain and sleep medicine.
We draw upon 30+ years of combined experience plus multiple board certifications to provide effective solutions – that is, solutions you can live with and that get results.

Temporomandibular Disorders

TMJ and craniofacial pain problems are difficult to diagnose because the symptoms can mimic dozens of other disorders. That is why TMJ is often called “the great imposter.” It also explains, in part, why treating a temporomandibular joint disorder or craniofacial pain problem effectively requires a multi-disciplinary approach.

In keeping with our focus on your overall health, we work to identify the types of stress that are most significant in producing your significant symptoms. These may include:

Dental Stress (the manner in which your upper and lower teeth and jaws relate to each other),

Structural Stress (i.e., traumatic injuries that may have damaged ligaments and joints, your postural habits and the way you use your body, plus changes to the cervical (neck) spine due to abnormal positioning of your jaw),

Nutritional Stress (a factor for ¼ of our patients that can produce muscle irritability and add to existing irritabilities caused by other forms of stress), and

External Stress (commonly referred to as “emotional stress” or “lifestyle stress”).

Each of us has a different level of stress which our body will tolerate before symptoms become apparent. We call this the “stress threshold.”
If your stress level is kept below your stress threshold, you do not notice any
pain or dysfunction.
However, if your stress “score” rises above our threshold capacity, symptoms begin to appear.

By pinpointing which types of stress are most significant in producing your particular problems, we can treat them at their source and provide you with long-term relief.

Your “Adaptive Capacity” is your unique capacity to deal with the physical and emotional aspects of your environment that may be strengthened or weakened by life events, wellness, attitude and resolution.”

Sleep Disorders

Robert L. Talley, DDS is the only dentist in the state of Oklahoma certified by the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine. He has a special interest in the conservative (non-surgical) treatment of sleep disorders, specifically those that occur as a result of improper alignment of the jaw and structures within the mouth (i.e., snoring and sleep apnea).

Because these sleep-disordered breathing problems can lead to serious health problems, a multi-disciplinary approach is essential in treating them. In addition to providing our patients with direct access to the only dentist in the state of Oklahoma who is certified in dental sleep medicine, we work in closely with your personal physicians to gain important insights into your health history – and to determine your best treatment options.

We also work closely with the area’s leading sleep labs. We have close relationships with these labs’ interpreting physicians, who are certified in sleep medicine and known throughout Oklahoma. We know we can count on them to care for your most complex sleep-related heath concerns. This kind of cooperation is essential in giving you the quality care that meets your unique needs.

Restful sleep is more than a time out from daily activities; it is essential to good health.
When delivered by a qualified dentist, a custom-made oral appliance can be effective in treating snoring and sleep apnea.
Oral appliances can be used as an adjunct to, or replacement for, other therapies such as CPAP (continuous positive air pressure), and they can often eliminate the need for surgery.
Simple changes in the way you take care of yourself can contribute to improvements in the quality of your sleep and help you feel better than ever.