Dr. Hirschinger Facial Pain Headaches TMJ Sleep Apnea

09/17/2025

I'm pleased to announce that a one-hour pre-recorded webinar I created for the American Dental Association is now available online. I was paid a small stipend to create it, and I will not receive any further compensation from the ADA. The title is “TMJ is Not a Diagnosis." Dentists will earn one CE credit for watching and passing a 5-question quiz at the end. I hope y'all enjoy it.

Learn to diagnose and manage non-odontogenic pain with confidence. Explore TMJ function, referred pain, and conditions like trigeminal neuralgia—so you can distinguish dental pain from other sources and know when to treat or refer.

05/16/2025

Time for a house call to treat chronic migraine and facial nerve pain.

08/12/2024

I'm pleased to share that I'm giving a lecture to the Orange Country Dental Society on Friday, August 23rd. Here is the link to sign up and share.

Orofacial Pain Deep Dive: Diagnosing and Treating Orofacial Pain including Primary Headaches, Neuropathic and Myofascial Pain, and TMJFeaturing Rich Hirschinger, DDS, MBA6 CE CreditsFriday, August 23, 20248:30 A.M. – 3:30 P.M.LIMITED TO 50 PARTICIPANTSLight Breakfast and Lunch will be provided reg...

05/11/2024

There will be no Saturday Cycling Antics today due to Saturday Learning Antics at the AAOP annual meeting. This morning, there were lectures on tinnitus, dizziness, and headache medications.

03/29/2022

The field of orofacial pain was recognized as the 12th specialty of dentistry by the ADA in March 2020. Yesterday, the American Board of Orofacial Pain (ABOP) was recognized by the National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards as the national certifying Board of the specialty. I’m proud to be Board-certified by ABOP. 🤗

03/16/2022

I'm giving a 6 hour lecture to the Tulare Kings County Dental Society on Friday. I am presenting 425 slides. This is one of them. If you ever have a headache that meets one of these criteria, please go to the ER to have all the bad stuff ruled out.

06/21/2021

Is “TMJ” a diagnosis? Learn the answer by reading this blog post.

TMJ is an acronym that stands for temporomandibular joint. The first part, temporo, is derived from the temporal bone, which is the bone that is part of the skull above the ear. The next part, mandibular, is derived from mandible, which is the jaw bone. So the TMJ is the "skull jaw joint," and it is...

05/07/2021

I’m attending an excellent lecture by Dr. David Gilbert at the Inland Institute on TMJ total joint replacement. This is a surgery of last resort but when it is indicated and when done by someone as well trained as Dr. Gilbert it can be very beneficial.

03/15/2021

I was honored to be asked to present a clinical tip for Gary Takacs's Thriving Dentist podcast. You can listen to the tip on how to recognize trigeminal neuralgia, which starts at the 2:16 mark, and the podcast on Strategies on How to Attract and Keep the Best Team Members at http://bit.ly/FBEP-478.

12/31/2020

This is how to tell if you grind your teeth. Many of my patients don't think they grind. When I do my exam, I let them know they do grind. If they say, "I don't think so," I tell them I'm making a statement that they "do" grind. 🤗

Bruxism is defined as the clenching and/or grinding of teeth. It usually causes pain in the muscles that close the jaw, and the gentle jaw was exactly designed to help that type of muscle pain. No one has a solution for bruxism during sleep so a nightguard is highly recommended to protect the teeth from wearing against each other. You can tell if you grind your teeth by looking for wear facets. The canines, or cuspids, are usually pointy. If they look flattened on the edge as shown in the image, then you grind your teeth, which usually occurs during sleep. During the day, people do not usually grind but they do clench. That is why it is important that you keep your teeth apart during the day, and you should stretch using the gentle jaw for 30 seconds about every two hours. You can read more frequently asked questions about the gentle jaw at www.gentlejaw.com/faq 🤗

12/17/2020

gentle jaw is a passive stretching device used for 30 seconds every 2 hours to stretch the closing muscles of the jaw and the tmj. It helps relieve chronic jaw and TMJ pain caused by clenching, grinding, and bruxism.

09/11/2020

This coming Wednesday, September 16th at 5 pm Pacific Time, I will be the guest on Clinical Chats hosted by Dr. Christopher Marchack and Dr. Frank Vidjak. We are going to chat about the newest dental specialty, orofacial pain. Have you heard of occlusal dysesthesia? Do you know how to differentiate between tooth pain and trigeminal neuralgia? Please join us for this exciting episode to learn more! Sign up at https://www.ilovedentistry.online/clinicalchats8/