West Suburban Branch | TMD in Everyday Practice

Join the West Suburban Branch at the Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge on April 6, 2027 for the lecture “TMD in Everyday Practice: Practical Strategies for Diagnosis, Management, and Referrals” presented by Dr. Linda Sangalli, DDS, MS, PhD.

Course Description: “My patient has jaw pain—what do I do next?” This is a question many general dentists face in everyday practice. Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are among the most common causes of chronic orofacial pain encountered in dental practice, yet many clinicians feel uncertain about how to approach them, their diagnosis and management. This course will provide a practical, evidence-based framework to the evaluation, referral, and management of TMD. Participants will learn how to identify the true source of pain, perform a focused clinical examination, recognize when referral is warranted, and develop diagnosis-based treatment plans. By the end of the course, attendees will have a clear, stepwise strategy for managing patients with TMD and for recognizing when referral to an orofacial pain specialist is indicated.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Linda Sangalli, DDS, MS, PhD, is a dentist as training (University of Brescia, Italy), with a specialization in Orthodontics and a Ph.D. in Technology for Health (Italy). After working for a decade as a specialist orthodontist, she moved to the University of Kentucky to complete a master of science in Orofacial Pain, along with a Graduate Certificate in Applied Statistics and a Graduate Certificate in Epidemiology. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain.

Currently, Dr. Sangalli works as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Midwestern University, College of Dental Medicine – Illinois, where she is responsible for teaching orofacial pain to predoctoral students and manages patients with orofacial pain.

Her research centers on virtual learning environment to strengthen dental providers’ education in temporomandibular disorders, as well as on non-pharmacological sleep strategies for managing orofacial musculoskeletal pain, For her research, she received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIDCR), ADEAGies Foundation, American Headache Society, American Academy of Orofacial Pain, International Association for the Study of Pain, International Association for Dental Research, and American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. She also published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles all in the past 5 years and contributed to numerous books and national presentations on orofacial pain.

Learning Objectives:
1. Understand the difference between source and site of the pain
2. Differentiate between muscle pain and articular pain in the orofacial region
3. Provide a stepwise approach on what to do in front of a TMD patient

CE Hours: 2

*RSVP before March 28, 2027 and complete payment once your registration is confirmed.