Broader Evaluation of TMD Treatment Efficacy and Response (BETTER-TMD)
In September 2025, C-TMD IMPACT was funded to carry out the research project titled, “Broader Evaluation of TMD Treatment Efficacy and Response (BETTER-TMD). The overall goal of this project is to define and predict which existing treatments are likely to be most effective for specific patients from a whole-person perspective, considering their symptoms and psychosocial context.
The proposed study leverages a custom-developed app, MyDocNote, to collect real-world, structured, patient-reported treatment outcome data. These outcomes will be paired with de-identified, highly structured data on signs, symptoms, and diagnosis.
Objective 1
Establish a set of common data elements (CDEs) to characterize the phenotypic traits and treatment outcomes of TMD-OFP patients.
Objective 2
Collect a large longitudinal, structured dataset of patient treatment outcomes using our mobile app, MyDocNote.
Objective 3
Analyze patient data to improve diagnosis and treatment decision-making for TMD-OFP.
Achievement of these objectives will deliver: 1) a large-scale, longitudinal, structured, and whole-person database of TMD-OFP signs, symptoms, and treatment outcomes and 2) decision-making algorithms for diagnosis and treatment based on data analyses including ML methodology. Ultimately, these can form the basis of a real-time point-of-care system to support clinicians in diagnosing TMDs and planning treatment.
C-TMD IMPACT
The Center for TMD IMproving PAtient-Centered Translational Research (C-TMD IMPACT) is a premier center for the development of innovative therapies for TMDs.
Contact Us
- Jianfu Chen, Co-PI
- Glenn Clark, Co-PI
- VyVy Nguyen, Operations
- Nicole Tam, Operations
BETTER-TMD is supported by U01DE036113 from the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.