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2. About Dr. Mark Piper

Dr. Mark Allan Piper was raised on a farm in rural Ohio where he graduated as Valedictorian of Ashtabula Edgewood Senior High School. He was admitted as a Harvard National Scholar to Harvard College, and he majored in chemistry. He received his Bachelor of Arts cum laude, in 1974. He continued his studies as a Harvard Graduate National Scholar, and in 1978, he earned his DMD magna cum laude, from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He was the Harvard Gold Medal Award recipient of his graduating dental school class and was inducted into the Harvard Chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon.

Dr. Piper then enrolled in Vanderbilt Medical School and completed his MD degree in 1980. While at Vanderbilt University Medical Center he was awarded certificates for completing a one year Internship in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, a two year Basic Residency in General Surgery, and a one year Chief Residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He was an emergency room physician in Tennessee before moving to Florida to establish his private practice as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. He is licensed and boarded in both dentistry and medicine, and he is Board Certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Dr. Piper is a member of numerous local, state, national, and international dental and medical organizations and associations. Among these he is a Fellow of the American College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Fellow of the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons, and member of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. He is a member of the American Dental Association and the American Medical Association. In 1984, he was one of twelve founding fathers of the American Society of TMJ Surgeons. He has served that organization as Member of the Charter Committee, Chairman of the Research Committee, and Chairman of the Adjudication Committee. Dr. Piper has been on staff at six hospitals in the greater Saint Petersburg area, and he has been a member of numerous hospital committees. He is a past Trustee of Edward White Hospital and Board Member of the Pinellas County Medical Society.

Dr. Piper has an extensive research and teaching background. As a dental student he authored a legislative bill creating the Office of Dental Forensic Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He defended his Harvard School of Dental Medicine thesis on the study of myoepithelial cell migration. He was honored by the International Association of Dental Research as the Hatton Research Award First Place Winner for his original research presentation and defense on wound healing and on mechanisms of fetal palatal shelf elevation.

In private practice his clinical research interests have included the diagnosis and management of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, osteochondral growth deficiency of human mandibular condyles, and TMJ degenerative conditions. He is credited with a number of major advancements in the field of TMD including classification of TMJ disorders, development of TMJ Doppler Auscultation, TMJ microsurgery, stealth-assisted skull base surgery, and autologous adipose reconstructive grafting of damaged joints. He has special expertise in tracking occlusal disturbances in patients with TMD, and he has been instrumental in developing methods of occlusal correction through temporomandibular reconstruction.

His current work is focused on the surgical repair of TMJ internal derangements to reverse childhood osteochondral growth defects and subsequent malocclusion. Dr. Piper has lectured extensively throughout the world to both dental and medical audiences. He has been a frequent guest lecturer at the Pankey Institute and at the Dawson Center for Advanced Dental Study. His peer reviewed publications focus on TMJ microsurgery, avascular necrosis of the mandibular condyle, MR diagnosis of TMJ internal derangements, and the relationship of malocclusion to damaged TMJ’s. He is a former section editor for the Journal of Craniomandibular Practice and former reviewer for the Journal of OrofacialPain.

Dr. Piper currently maintains a private practice at the Piper Clinic in St. Petersburg, Florida. He devotes his skills exclusively to debilitated pain and TMJ patients, including adults with failed surgery and children with joint injuries. He is the founder and full time director of the Piper Education and Research Center, an institution dedicated to the advancement of TMJ education through lectures, hands on experiences, clinical fellowships, and research study groups. He serves as medical advisor to Anomalous Medical, LLC, in the development of graphical computer modeling of normal and pathological anatomy in the head and neck region.