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Faculty and Residents

One of the strengths of the University of Kentucky Orofacial Pain Program is the faculty who join together to provide the educational, clinical and research experiences for the residents. Treating and researching orofacial pain is truly an interdisciplinary activity. The following is a brief description of the individuals that make up the faculty in the Orofacial Pain Center.

 

 

 

Jeffrey P. Okeson, DMD
Program Director. Director of Education

Dr. Okeson is a 1972 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. After a hospital based dental internship with the Public Health Service, he joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky in 1974. In 1977, he founded the Orofacial Pain Center. His textbook, Management of Temporomandibular Disorders, is presently in its fourth edition and is used in most dental schools in the United States. It has been translated into seven languages for use in other countries. Dr. Okeson has also authored the fifth edition of Bell's Orofacial Pains. In addition to these two texts and more than 120 other publications, Dr. Okeson is the editor of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain's guidelines on orofacial pain. Dr. Okeson has been very active nationally in the development of graduate training in the area of orofacial pain. He has lectured on the subject of TMD and orofacial pain in 41 states and in 28 foreign countries.

 

Reny de Leeuw, DDS, PhD
Division Chief

Dr. de Leeuw is a graduate of the University of Groningen, School of Dentistry in Groningen, The Netherlands. She completed a five-year Ph.D. Program at the University of Groningen in 1994. Her dissertation investigated the long-term outcome of osteoarthrosis and internal derangements of the TMJ. She has published several research articles on this topic in international journals. After she completed a three-year Certificate Program in Orofacial Pain at the University of Kentucky Orofacial Pain Center, she joined the faculty, where she is now Associate Professor and Division Chief. Her present research interests are in functional MR imaging of pain, and PTSD in orofacial pain patients.

Charles R. Carlson, PhD
Director of Behavioral Medicine. Director of Research

Dr. Carlson received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Vanderbilt University in 1983, and completed a clinical residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1984. He came to the University of Kentucky in 1988 where he is an associate professor in the Departments of Psychology and Oral Health Science. He is an active researcher in the area of orofacial pain and has published articles in the Journal of Orofacial Pain, Pain, and Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. His primary interests are (a) the role of the autonomic nervous systems in the mediation of pain in the shoulder and neck regions, and (b) the development of self-regulation therapies for management of pain.

John Lindroth, DDS

Dr. Lindroth received his dental degree from West Virginia University in 1977. After 12 years in general practice he enrolled in the University of Kentucky Orofacial Pain Mini-Residency Program which he completed in 1990. Dr. Lindroth then completed the full time Orofacial Pain Residency at the OFP Center in 1992. From 1992 until 1997 he maintained a practice limited to orofacial pain and TMD in Charleston, West Virginia. Dr. Lindroth joined University of Kentucky faculty full-time in 1997 and he presently participates part-time in the Orofacial Pain Graduate Training Program.

Donald A. Falace, DMD

Dr. Falace graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry in 1970 and then joined the U.S. Public Health Service for two years as a dental intern. He completed a residency in oral surgery at the University of North Carolina in 1975 and subsequently joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky, where he is professor and Division Chief of Oral Diagnosis and Oral Medicine. His research and clinical interests are in the areas of orofacial pain, medically compromised patients and sleep disorders. Dr. Falace is widely published and is the author of two texts, Dental Management of the Medically Compromised Patient and Emergency Dental Care. In addition, he is an active lecturer both nationally and internationally. Dr. Falace limits his clinical practice to patients with orofacial pain, TM disorders, snoring and sleep apnea.

Anne L. Harrison, MSPT, PhD.

Dr. Harrison is an associate professor in the Division of Physical Therapy within the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at UK. She obtained her MS in PT from University of Indianapolis, and her PhD in Gerontology from the University of Kentucky. She is also on faculty in the Doctoral Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, and the Doctoral Program in Gerontology.

Dr. Harrison has extensive clinical experience in outpatient orthopedics, and currently works on an interdisciplinary team in the Orofacial Pain Clinic at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. In the Physical Therapy curriculum, she teaches Functional Anatomy, Pathomechanics, and Gerontology, as well as specialty electives in Orofacial Pain Management. In the Gerontology Doctoral program she teaches Biology of Aging.

Dr. Harrison's general research foci are in the areas of motor control and interdisciplinary approaches to health care. She is currently participating in a grant funded by the Arthritis Foundation to compare radiological and functional examination strategies for people with osteoarthritis. She has received internal grant funding to complete pilot projects examining biopsychosocial outcomes in older adults with osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.

Juan F. Yepes, DDS, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Division of Oral Diagnosis, Medicine and Radiology

Dr. Yepes received his DDS degree from Pontifical Javeriana University, College of Dentistry, (Bogotá, Colombia) in 1992 and his MD degree from the same university, College of Medicine, graduating in 1998.  While attending dental school, he completed additional externship for 6 months in the Department of General Practice Dentistry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Medicine in the College of Dentistry during all his training in Medicine (7 years). After practicing Dentistry and Family Medicine, he attended the University of Iowa and the University of Pennsylvania where he completed a fellowship and residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and Oral Medicine in 2004.  In spring of 2006, Dr. Yepes completed a Master in Public Health with emphasis in Epidemiology at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Yepes is Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Medicine and Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) .He is an active member of the American Medical Association, American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, American Dental Association, American Academy of Oral Medicine, Hispanic Dental Association and American Dental Education Association.  His teaching, research and practice interests are in the areas of oral radiology, oral medicine, epidemiology of oral diseases and orofacial pain.  At the present time, he is a part- time student of Dental Public Health through Baylor College of Dentistry.

Lyle Carlson, PhD

 

Alan Wilkinson, DMD (part time)

Dr. Wilkinson received his Dental Degree from the University of Louisville in 1972. After 15 years in general practice he became very interested in problem pain and enrolled in the University of Kentucky Orofacial Pain Mini-Residency Program, which he completed in 1988. He then completed the full-time Orofacial Pain Residency at the OFP Center in 1990. He maintains a practice limited to orofacial pain and TMD in Louisville, Kentucky.

Dental Residents presently enrolled in the Orofacial Pain Center's Programs

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Send comments to Sandra Challman, Last Modified: August 29, 2008
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