Evidence-based treatment of TMJ dysfunction

He has been a full time faculty member at the University of Kentucky for 45 years. He is recognized worldwide as an authority in the field of TMD and orofacial pain, lecturing in every state in the USA and 59 different foreign countries. His textbooks have been translated into eleven different foreign languages and have become a standard for teaching throughout the world. His peers have called him the “World Ambassador for Orofacial pain”. He is a highly sought after speaker and has given more than 1300 invited lectures throughout the world. He has received numerous awards, honors and recognitions for his outstanding teaching and educational abilities. Some of these awards include the campus wide University of Kentucky “Great Teacher Award”, the Provost’s Distinguished Service Professorship, the American Academy of Orofacial Pain’s Service Award and the first ever “Distinguished Alumni Award” from the College of Dentistry. In addition, he received the State of Kentucky Acorn Award for the best professor in the state and was inducted into the University of Kentucky Hall of Distinguished Alumni. Dr. Okeson has also received “The International Dentist of the Year Award” from the Academy of Dentistry International. This is the highest award recognized by this Academy and was given to him in recognition of his worldwide efforts in providing education in the area of temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain. In addition to his two textbooks, he has more then 240 publications in scientific journals. He is founder of the Orofacial Pain Program at the University of Kentucky. He has developed several full-time teaching programs associated with the Center. The Master of Science Degree program he established was the first in the United States to be accredited by the American Academy of Orofacial Pain. The Orofacial Pain Residency Program was one of the very first to be accreditated by the Commission on Dental Accreditation. This program has graduated 65 full time residents from 26 different countries. He is active in many national and international organizations and is past president of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain. He is also a founding diplomate and twice past president of the American Board of Orofacial Pain. Dr. Okeson is presently serving as Dean of the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. Dr. Okeson is a captivating lecturer with a teaching style that is engaging, logical and based on the available science. He is one of the few individuals in the world capable of bringing all these subjects together into one lecture series.

Оbtained his dental degree from the University of Manitoba (Canada) in 1980. Over the next 22 years, he enjoyed the practice of general dentistry from both a public health and private practice perspective until he returned to graduate studies in 2002. In 2004, he completed his training and graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Certificate in Orofacial Pain. In 2005, he completed a fellowship in Oral Medicine/Oral Oncology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). From 2005 – 2011, he was an Assistant Professor and Director of the Oral Medicine/Orofacial Pain clinic at the College of Dentistry in the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Diagnostic Sciences at Louisiana State University, School of Dentistry as well as the Director of the LSU Orofacial Pain Continuum. Dr. Klasser has published numerous peer reviewed scientific articles while contributing many chapters to various textbooks. He also serves as an associate editor or as an editorial reviewer for a number of journals. He is also co-editor of several textbooks related to oral and facial pain and is a Past-President of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain.

Dissertation (1987) and habilitation (1994) in the field of CMD diagnostics and therapy. Since 1995 Professor and head of the Department of Prosthodontics and Orofacial Function, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany.