MILWAUKEE, Wis. (05/01/08) -- More than 10 million people in the United States suffer from this condition, but no medical specialty is dedicated to treating it. It can lead to severe, lifetime pain and yet no proven treatments or medications are on the horizon to cure it.

The condition is temporomandibular joint disorders, or TMJ, and it refers to a group of symptoms involving pain in the face, jaw, forehead, head, neck, shoulders and teeth.

The Fifth Scientific Meeting of the TMJ Association, June 1-3 at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology in Bethesda, Md., aims to improve this bleak outlook and change the face of TMJ by presenting current research on the disorder. This year's conference will explore the connections between TMJ disorders and other pain syndromes, including chronic headache, generalized pain conditions, irritable bowel syndrome, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis.

"Patients often face bewildering, expensive and unproven treatments that may not help them because the connection between the conditions is not realized," says Terrie Cowley, president and co-founder of the TMJ Association. "Making the connection between TMJ and these other illnesses could bring better understanding and, as a result, the hope for safer, more effective treatments."

"The field of TMJ diseases and disorders suffers from a lack of basic and clinical science," Cowley said. "Neither the American Dental Association nor the American Medical Association recognizes the treatment of TMJ diseases and disorders as a specialty. As a result, there are no established standards for dental or medical school education. Although a variety of health care providers advertise themselves as TMJ specialists, treatments available today are based largely on beliefs, not on scientific evidence.

The conference is open to clinical and basic scientists, physicians, dentists and other health professionals, federal agency officials. Patients and patient advocates for the co-morbid conditions are encouraged to participate. Continuing medical and dental education credits will be available for those attending.

For more information, visit the TMJ Association's Web site www.tmj.org.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Terrie Cowley, president and co-founder of The TMJ Association and a surgical TMJ patient, is available for interviews. Conference Topics and Presenters:

Clinical Symptoms and Co-morbidities of TMJD Patients

• Christian S. Stohler, D.M.D., Dr. Med. Dent., University of Maryland Dental School, Baltimore, Md.
• Peter Svensson, D.D.S., Ph.D., Dr. ODONT., School of Dentistry, University of Aarhus, Denmark
• William Maixner, D.D.S., Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Chronic Headache

• Richard B. Lipton, M.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y.
• Paul L. Durham, Ph.D., Missouri State University, Springfield, Miss.

Generalized Pain Conditions

• Christine N. Sang, M.D., M.P.H., Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
• Linda R. Watkins, Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder, Bolder, Colo.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome/Endometriosis/Interstitial Cystitis/Vulvodynia

• Emeran A. Mayer, M.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
• Karen J. Berkley, Ph.D., Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.
• Larissa V. Rodriguez, M.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
• Lori A. Birder, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Fibromyalgia

• Daniel J. Clauw, M.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Lesley M. Arnold, M.D., University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Jon. D. Levine, M.D., Ph.D., University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif.
• Dane B. Cook, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wis.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Suzanne D. Vernon, Ph.D., The CFIDS Association of America, Charlotte, N.C.
• Nancy G. Klimas, M.D., University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Fla.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Joan M. Bathon, M.D., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
• Alisa E. Koch, M.D., Veteran's Administration, Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, Mich., and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Temporomandibular Joint and Muscle Disorders

• Ke Ren, Ph.D., University of Maryland Dental School, Baltimore, Md.
• Jon-Kar Zubieta, M.D., Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
• David A. Bereiter, Ph.D., University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Minneapolis, Minn.
• John T. Watson, Ph.D., University of California San Diego, La Jolla, Calif.