Guest Editorial: Invitation to Participate in NIDCR’s TMJ Registry and Repository

Editorial:

This is an invitation to participate in clinical research on temporomandibular disorders from the convenience of your own office. The project, NIDCR’s TMJ Implant Registry and Repository (TIRR), uses state-of-the-art digital record technology to provide clinicians with a comprehensive clinic and research data management system for TMD and TMJ implants.
This system was developed to help address the significant pain and disability in patients who had inter-positional TMJ disk implants. In 1992, the FDA and the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons recommended that all patients with TMJ implants be followed and closely monitored. Today, thanks to the National Institute of Dental Research and this new technology, comprehensive monitoring is possible both for patients who have implants as well as patients who have had their implants removed.
This is the first registry of its kind to help address a significant national health problem. The system efficiently collects clinical information, establishes an electronic patient record, tracks patients, maintains confidentiality, and makes available research information on a national and international scale. Without even leaving their homes, participants can establish their own electronic TMJ record privately and confidentially, and it will be available for them or their doctor to access at any time. Patients are then tracked over time to determine any change in their condition or medical status. If surgery is performed, TIRR can archive the tissue, blood, and implant materials to be later analyzed for biomarkers that may measure disease progression.  Should it ever become necessary, TIRR is also able to contact participants to notify them of an implant device recall or other factors that might pose a risk to their health. The TIRR web database is secure, HIPAA compliant, and protected using industry-standard encryption technology. 
Now in its second year, TIRR has proven to be a successful foray into the new digital world of research data and specimen collection and analysis. If you are interested in participating in TIRR, you can visit the public site at http://tmjregistry.org. Many TMJ clinicians from across the United States are already enrolled, but the project is still new and we encourage you to help these patients by becoming a partner in TIRR. For clinicians who participate, TIRR will provide the web based information system including a clinical website powered by Avenet LLC’s content management system. To contact TIRR:
    NIDCR's TIRR
    http://tmjregistry.org
    7-546 Moos Science Tower
    515 Delaware Street SE
    Minneapolis, MN 55455
    Phone: (612) 626-4744
    Fax: (612) 626-5778
    E-mail: tmj.registry@umn.edu