James Fricton DDS, MS has 40 years of full-time experience in patient care, research, and teaching in the specialty of Orofacial Pain. He is a Professor Emeritus in the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry and founder and co-owner of the Minnesota Head and Neck Pain Clinic, a multi-specialty orofacial pain practice, with services reimbursed by all medical health plans including federal plans. He graduated with a B.S. in general science, graduate training in computer science, D.D.S. from the University of Iowa. He completed postgraduate training in pain management in the Department of Anesthesiology at UCLA School of Medicine and a M.S. in research in the School of Dentistry.

The new specialty of Orofacial Pain is young and there is a need to develop clinics that flourish, attract new specialists into the field, and improve access to care for patients. Thus, there is a need to develop best practices for clinics to achieve both excellent patient outcomes and optimal business success. There are many examples of successful orofacial pain practices nationally. This presentation highlights the opportunity for Dentistry to expand into this new field and recommendations of best practices to establish successful orofacial pain practices.