Donald Nixdorf – November 2024 Member Spotlight

Donald Nixdorf, DDS MS
[email protected]

After graduating from the University of Alberta Faculty of Dentistry, Dr. Nixdorf completed hospital dentistry residency at The Ohio State University, Anesthesia fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, Orofacial Pain fellowship at the University of Alberta, and a Master of Science in Clinic Research at the University of Minnesota. As a Diplomate of the National Dental Board of Anesthesiology (NDBA) and the American Board of Orofacial Pain (ABOP), he maintains a specialty Orofacial Pain practice on the diagnoses and management of chronic TMD pain, headaches, and neuropathic pain within multi-disciplinary settings.

Dr. Nixdorf’s research has focused on the topics of non-odontogenic “tooth” pain from a classification, diagnosis, epidemiology, and treatment perspectives, as well as TMD and most recently dental MRI, with over 85 published articles.

Dr. Nixdorf is Professor, Division Director, and past Graduate Program Director at the University of Minnesota in the Division of TMD & Orofacial Pain.

Dr. Nixdorf graciously participated in a brief interview, where he discussed his journey into the field of Orofacial Pain, reflected on the field’s evolution, and offered valuable advice for early-career professionals

It was during my anesthesia training, rotating through the chronic pain clinic, and learning the difficulties patients were facing. A saw how our anesthesia colleagues struggled with chronic facial pain patients, specifically with differential diagnosis, and how this impacted on treatment outcomes. I knew I could offer something better, trained as a dentist and an anesthesiologist.

I feel the orofacial pain field has matured greatly, based on the efforts of many. That is, we are following the steps that other areas of dentistry that have taken to become a dental specially and a keystone of the profession of dentistry. While I have witnessed specialty status recognizing, what I have not yet seen is the cohesive strength in those within OFP supporting the educational and scientific basis of OFP practice within academia. I expect OFP specialists to lead the education in dentistry, the practice of patient care, and the research related to dentistry in our area expertise. If we do this in every dental school, which I am sure we and our patients in chronic pain will all prosper.

Meeting our patients where they are at, that is the most challenging and most important thing for me. We are all on our own journey, doing what we can to provide for ourselves and those we love. So being able to stop and truly see, that is understand where the person that has entrusted us/me in their care is at in this conjuncture in live, is what I strive to achieve. For me the barriers are all the things pulling my attention away from the patient in need, such as person issues, research tasks, regulatory obligations, and desire to teach. It is truly a juggling match, but I am very fortunate to have wonder staff and understanding trainees that all work together to assist our patients to meeting their challenges and take steps to meet their goals. So, working together as a team to get our patients to help themselves improve is the most rewarding aspect.

Get good training and good mentoring. Being a new specialty in dentistry, there are difficulties that can be avoided that are not yet well known outside to the within that have experiences with them. The AAOP has a mentorship program, which is an excellent resource, and the CODA accredited programs have faculty vested in training/mentoring those junior in their careers. So my recommendation is to reach out, interact, and get engaged.

After almost 25 years, I have finally become a Minnesotan. I bought a cabin “up north”, and in my free time I like to go there. I do the typical things there, but mostly the work is harvesting, cutting up and chopping wood to fuel the sauna and cabin.