Dr. Mark Piper, DMD, MD

Start with the joint.

Forty years of operating on and imaging the temporomandibular joint, explained for the patients who live with it and taught to the clinicians who treat it.

I am a patient or parent I am a clinician

[Portrait of Dr. Piper]

40 yearsoperating on and imaging the TMJ

[Anomalous model: disc and condyle]

Why the joint comes first

The teeth are often the last place a structural problem shows itself.

When the disc, the ligaments or the bone of the jaw joint change, the bite follows. So does the growing face, and often the airway. Pain may follow as well. Piper Education teaches that order: the joint foundation first, then everything built upon it.

For patients and parents

Plain answers about jaw pain, clicking and bite changes

The stages of joint damage, the questions to ask before expensive treatment, and free guides and tools to understand your own symptoms.

Visit the patient pages

For clinicians

Piper Academy

The curriculum of Joint Based Dentistry, beginning with Foundational Occlusion. Recorded chapters, a live monthly session with Dr. Piper, and a case reasoning library. Your first month is free.

Visit Piper Academy

From the library

Recent articles

See the full library

[Article image]

Joint Based Imaging

When the face changes shape: what a damaged jaw joint does to the chin

Why a chin can drift toward one side, and why the answer is usually found in the jaw joint rather than the teeth.

[Article image]

[Category]

[Article title]

[Two line summary of the article.]

[Article image]

[Category]

[Article title]

[Two line summary of the article.]

Free eBooks

Read every guide free, online.

Each eBook answers one question fully, in plain language. Read it here at no cost, or have the PDF sent to you.

See the eBooks

"I am not here to tell anyone their treatment was wrong. I am here to provide an anatomical baseline and explain the advantages of looking at the foundation first."

Dr. Mark Piper