Jaw Joints and Allied Musculo-Skeletal Disorders Foundation JJAMSDF

The Forsyth Institute
140 Fenway
Boston, MA 02115-3799
A 501(c)3 Non-Profit Advocacy Organization
Established in 1982 as America's Pioneer TMJ Advocacy Organization

Tel (617) 266 2550
Alternate Tel: (617) 262 5200 x8539
E-Mail:TMJoints@aol.com

WHO WE ARE

The Jaw Joints & Allied Musculo-Skeletal Disorders Foundation, Inc. [JJAMD] is a 501c[3] non-profit charitable national educational, research, and advocacy organization. It works in promoting awareness, prevention, research, and knowledge of the Jaw Joints to whole body health. The disorder to the TemporoMandibular Joints (i.e. in layperson’s terms the “Jaw Joints”) is mostly known as “TMJ Disorders”. TMJ is one of the most pervasive, least understood and controversial health disorders in existence today. TMJ is now acknowledged as a component in other disorders, and is also called by a variety of other names and acronyms, adding to the controversy.

VISION STATEMENT

JJAMD expresses its vision through the use of an axiom that “Life Revolves Around the Jaw Joints in Every Motor and Sensory activity 24 hours a day, awake or asleep.” JJAMD believes that the disorder to these TemporoMandibular Joints--known primarily as “TMJ Disorder”--is largely preventable through a responsible and high quality program of public awareness and education.

MISSION STATEMENT

The specific mission of JJAMD is to network with TMJ patients, the general public, health providers and their affiliations and societies, governmental agencies, insurers, and through liaison with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, in order to:

Foster appropriate comprehensive public awareness, knowledge, education, research, and information concerning the TemporoMandibular Joints [the Jaw Joints]--how they are structured, their function, and their relationship to the whole body for general good health.
Promote prevention of disorders and diseases to the Jaw Joints and advocate for appropriate comprehensive perception, medical/dental classification, diagnoses, and treatments for TMJ Disorders.
Foster self-help-support groups through a National TMJ Alliance.
Exchange information with other organizations who deal with disorders containing a TMJ component or relationship.
Encourage the Medical and Dental professions to work together in a multidisciplinary team effort to create a medical model, protocols for appropriate research, diagnoses, treatments, and responsible health insurance coverage.
Enlist the Medical/Dental School educators, and emergency medical staff, to include within their curricula, the routine teaching of the TemporoMandibular Joints [TMJ] and the disorders and diseases to them.

JJAMD advocates for the creation of medical models and medical protocols for the necessary appropriate health insurance coverage for TMJ patients. This will help to end the discrimination against millions of Americans who suffer with this disorder with disastrous results including the thousands who have had silicone joint implants which have failed. To this end, JJAMD has sponsored independent research, holds free public lectures, encourages support-self-help groups and has organized and conducted professional lectures and national seminars. JJAMD has received the support of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in many of its activities and has become allied with another leading patient advocacy organization, The TMJ Association, Ltd., in. efforts to support all TMJ sufferers around the country.

The ultimate aim of these actions is to alleviate the untold preventable human suffering of those afflicted with TMJ as well as the needless high costs of health care associated therewith. By designating November of each years as “Jaw Joints-TMJ Awareness Month” awareness can be increased among all Americans, and in particular those in a position to help treat, insure, provide appropriate research, and ultimately to prevent this scourge in our nation.