Greetings
Our clinic is a specialty outpatient clinic that handles temporomandibular and related functional disorders. We provide treatment to people with the following symptoms.1. Temporomandibular disorders
- People who have difficulty to open the mouth
- People who experience pain of the jaw joints
- People who have pain or stiffness of the jaw muscles
- People whose jaw joints cause clicking sounds
2. Jaw dislocation
- People who sometimes experience dislocated jaw and cannot close their mouths
Outline
Medical care system and treatment policy
At this clinic we mainly treat temporomandibular disorders, which include disorders with symptoms involving jaw joints and masticatory muscles due to displacement or deformation of the cushion (temporomandibular joint disc) or bones of the jaw, and cases of hypertonic contraction of the masticatory muscles.A comprehensive approach surpassing the boundaries of dental clinical departments is necessary to handle this disorder. At Hokkaido University, the Clinic of Temporomandibular Disorders was established ahead of other universities in Japan when the Clinic of Specific Dental Problems, the predecessor of the Center for Advanced Oral Medicine, was established in 1981.
Treatment tailored to the condition of each patient, such as physiotherapy, pharmacotherapy or occlusion treatment, is performed, and surgical treatment is also performed on rare occasions. Our clinic’s staff members provide treatment with the help of specialists of various other clinical departments.
Consultation hours and contact information
First-visit reception: 8:30 a.m. – noon (by appointment only)*Please consult us if you would like to visit in the afternoon.
Return-visit reception: 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (by appointment only)
Consultation hours: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Consultation days: Monday – Friday
Closed: Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, year-end and New Year holidays
*Inquires: Third Clinic at 011-706-4386 (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
(Please inform us that you wish to visit the Clinic of Temporomandibular Disorders.)
To first-visit patients
- An appointment system was adopted in June 2014. First-visit patients are kindly requested to make an appointment by telephone in advance.
- If you have a removable mouthpiece (splint) or dentures, please bring these along.
Major tests and equipment
Imaging study
- Plain TMJ X-rays
- CT
- MRI (performed at a related hospital)
Jaw function test
- Electromyography
- Occlusal contact pressure measurement
Medical care results
Annual numbers of patients
- Total number of patients: 3,670 (FY 2012)
- Number of new patients: 226 (FY 2011)
(As of April 1, 2016)
