From Seventh Scientific Meeting of The TMJ Association, Genetic, Epigenetic, and Mechanistic Studies of Temporomandibular Disorders and Overlapping Pain Conditions

Trigeminal pain syndromes such as temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain appear to have a particular potential to affect patients in a devastating manner. Prevalence of tri-geminal pain disorders in the US is estimated at 20-30x106, at>50-75x106 including headaches/migraine. Neural circuit malfunction and maladaptive plasticity arise from altered primary sensory afferents. We have focused on a nerve cell that is the eminent gatekeeper of sensory afferent cues in the trigeminal system, trigeminal ganglion (TG) sensory neurons. These neurons, when damaged by physical, inflammatory or chemical injury, set up the ensu-ing maladaptive reprogramming and circuit malfunction, including pathological pain, in the CNS. In recent years, the importance of TRP ion channels, expressed in nociceptor neurons, has been recognized i