Doctor Education · Occlusion Connections
GNM Continuing Education
in Occlusion & TMD
Why dentists from around the world come to Las Vegas to train with Dr. Clayton A. Chan.
We reset the thinking process — training dentists to become true physicians of the mouth.
Where the World Comes to Master Occlusion & TMD
United States ◆ Canada ◆ Singapore ◆ Australia ◆ Malaysia ◆ Japan ◆ Hong Kong ◆ Russia ◆ Germany ◆ India ◆ Indonesia ◆ Taiwan ◆ United Kingdom ◆ France ◆ Israel/Palestine
18th Year of GNM Teaching — Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.
Begin your GNM journey — Level 1 & 2 Occlusion and TMD training at OC.
You Are Not Failing From Lack of Effort
If you have been practicing CR or neuromuscular dentistry and still encountering cases you cannot fully resolve — cervical dysfunction that won’t settle, anterior open bites that relapse, EMG patterns that go up instead of down after TENS — you are not failing because of lack of effort. You are failing because something critical is missing from your training.
That missing piece is GNM — Gneuromuscular Dentistry — the only curriculum in the world that integrates gnathologic principles with objective neuromuscular science into a reproducible, physiologically grounded system of care. This is what Occlusion Connections teaches. GNM Masterclass Training is what transforms a good dentist into a 1% clinician.
OCCLUSION is the clinical application
of both Gnathic + NM understanding.
The GNM Philosophy
“GNM is not a repackaging of existing ideas — it is a distinct clinical philosophy, pioneered by Dr. Chan, that integrates gnathic structure, neuromuscular function, and objective diagnostics into a reproducible, physiologic model of care.”
Foundational keys, principles, guidelines and techniques are clearly presented so the dentist can immediately apply them into their clinical practice to see the results and difference. GNM occlusion is about knowing the rules of bio-physiology and applying them correctly.
Postural Balance in GNM Occlusion
Postural balance is achieved when the cranium, mandible, cervical spine, and shoulder girdle musculature maintain coordinated, balanced tonus — both during functional activity and at rest. This neuromuscular harmony is foundational to systemic health and optimal occlusion.
Clinical Outcomes of GNM Masterclass Training
When dentists understand and apply GNM Occlusion principles, the following dysfunctions can be addressed at their root:
Bruxism (Grinding)
Resolved through gneuromuscular (GNM) reprogramming and occlusal harmony.
Clenching
Alleviated by restoring proprioceptive balance and reducing sympathetic overdrive.
Parafunctional Habits
Diminished as the system returns to a state of rest and stability.
Displaced TMJ Disc
May be reduced and stabilized through GNM optimization protocols that promote joint decompression, restore coordinated muscular function, and reestablish balanced cranio-mandibular dynamics.
Cervical / Neck Dysfunction
Improved through cranio-cervical alignment, reducing aberrant CNS signaling.
“By restoring postural and occlusal balance, we lower maladaptive central nervous system input — calming the brain and unlocking a cascade of healing across musculoskeletal, autonomic and parasympathetic domains.”
When Technology Alone Isn’t Enough
Clinicians who have been involved with neuromuscular dentistry concepts, electromyography (EMG), computerized mandibular scanning (CMS – jaw tracking), electrosonography (ESG) and low frequency dental ultra low frequency (ULF TENS) technology discover, based on science, research and objective measured awareness, that their diagnostic understanding of the data collected did not completely make sense. Based on their NM knowledge and understanding they eventually realize there was something missing in their clinical experience — but didn’t know what it was.
Many clinicians have used technology for years, yet still encountered cases they couldn’t fully resolve. These unresolved outcomes often led to rationalizations — questioning their understanding of occlusion, the adequacy of their TMD protocols, their interpretation of the data, or even their application of the technology itself.
But clinical reality tells a different story
When faced with complex TMD pain patients, it became clear that their underlying occlusal philosophy lacked the depth and precision required for true resolution. This is precisely where GNM Occlusion steps in — addressing the gaps, reframing the data through a “gneuromuscular” GNM lens, and offering diagnostic and therapeutic clarity that finally makes sense.
“GNM doesn’t just enhance the use of technology — it transforms the clinician’s thinking, elevating clinical outcomes from symptomatic relief to systemic resolution.”
K7 instrumentation is FDA-cleared and was ADA-accepted as a diagnostic aid for TMD. See the regulatory record →
Clinical Answers
Experienced NM clinicians often ask: what is actually different about GNM teaching at OC — and is Level 1 Advanced Principles to Physiologic Occlusion too elementary for someone with my background? These questions answer that.
Why do EMGs of the temporalis anterior muscles or cervical group muscles go up after TENSing when in fact they were taught the dental TENS “relaxes” muscles? If TENS relaxes muscles, why didn’t the EMGs go down after TENSing? It is a question NM training has never adequately answered. Why didn’t the cervical group EMGs go down after TENSing? What does the NM clinician do when these EMG patterns do not go down? Part of the answer lies in understanding what the lateral pterygoid muscle is actually doing during classical TENS — and why its superior and inferior heads must be brought into physiologic balance, not simply pulsed in synchrony, to achieve true masticatory muscle relaxation.
Orthopedics Verticalization · Non-Surgical Osseous Regeneration with GNM
OC GNM teachings begin to answer the following with effective techniques, methods and protocols that are critical for all advanced clinicians to learn and understand. Without this knowledge, the NM K7/J5 clinician’s understanding remains incomplete.
How does the NM dentist reduce an entrapped TMJ disc without invasive procedures?
If the patient has cervical dysfunction and records hyper EMGs in those regions when using the K7, how does the NM dentist systematically make these cervical group (LCG/RCG) EMGs go down?
How does the NM K7 dentist prove and confirm that their myo-trajectory using Scan 4/5 is the correct and optimized myo-trajectory?
How does the NM K7 dentist determine the correct physiologic vertical dimension with the anterior open bite case?
Diagnosis is key to achieving an Optimized Bite™ and physiologic jaw relationship. Learning how to effectively reduce disc displacement problems with the J5 Dental TENS is the foundational key to GNM understanding.
Without a proper bite registration the Phase 1 Orthotic or Phase 2 restorative occlusion will be off and will not be stable. Without proper micro-occlusal management understanding of the GNM rules and protocols, the high proprioceptive TMD patient and challenging occlusal restorative patients will fail and NM success of the patient will fall short of physiologic stability and clinical success.
It is these foundational OC GNM teachings, principles, techniques, methods and protocols that are presented in Levels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 4B Masterclass courses with Dr. Chan — beginning one’s GNM journey in advancing the clinician’s occlusal understanding.
One’s appreciation of the finer details and nuances of occlusal management is now taking shape based on a different paradigm, meaning and understanding — this is the meaning of OCCLUSION CONNECTIONS™.
From Burnout to Breakthrough — Discover What Dentistry Forgot
Dentists come to OC to discover what traditional education never taught.
01
Muscle Health and Jaw Position
Understand the critical relationship between muscle health and jaw position.
02
Micro-Occlusal Mastery
Master micro-occlusal skills that produce lasting clinical outcomes.
03
Confidence With Complex Cases
Treat complex TMD and restorative cases with confidence and precision.
The answers exist. The science supports them. OC teaches them.
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Where to Go From Here
Select the section that best describes where you are right now.
01Are Your Cases Not Resolving?
Start here if specific clinical failures keep repeating in your practice.
- Why Do My Crowns Keep Breaking? →
- Why Do Implant Restorations Keep Breaking? →
- Why Dental Bite Adjustments Fail — And How to Finally Get It Right →
- TMJ Splint Not Working? Why Night Guards Fail — And What Dentists Are Missing →
- Why Your Dental Occlusion Doesn’t Hold — Even When Everything Looks Right →
- Why the Bite Still Feels Off After Occlusal Adjustment →
- The Lost Vertical Dimension Patient: What Actually Went Wrong →
- Why Articulating Paper Does Not Reflect Functional Occlusion →
- Occlusal Instability: Why the Bite Keeps Changing — and Why Adjustments Don’t Hold →
- TMJ Symptoms After Bite Adjustment: What Is Being Missed in Diagnosis →
- Why TMJ Splints Fail in Complex Patients →
- The Patient Whose Neck Won’t Settle After Dental Work →
- The Cervical Dysfunction Patient — Why the Bite Cannot Be Solved Without Addressing the Neck →
02Understanding GNM Science
The physiologic principles that make GNM a distinct clinical philosophy.
- Physiologic Rest — A Key Solution to Dental Health →
- The AP-First Sequencing Principle in GNM Bite Registration →
- Why OC is Different — The Original Science Behind GNM Dentistry →
- The Difference Between GNM and NM Dentistry →
- What Is Physiologic Occlusion? Why the Answer Determines Everything →
- 3 Criteria for Scientific and Clinical Validity →
- 80% Dentists vs. Finding the 1% Expert Dentist →
- GNM is Not the Same as NM →
- Why Gneuromuscular Dentistry? The Next Level of Advancement →
03CR vs Myocentric — The Question That Changes Everything
Where the occlusal philosophies truly part ways.
04The Original Science Behind GNM
Evidence, instrumentation, and the intellectual foundation of OC teaching.
- The Evidence Behind GNM: Objective Measurement and Clinical Outcomes →
- Why Dentistry’s Quiet Tragedy Is the Joint It Cannot Hear →
- How GNM Clinicians Think — Anatomy, Mechanism, Symptom, Differential, Solution →
- The Trained Pattern: Why Good Dentists Miss What K7 Would Show Them →
- SCIENTIFIC TRUTHS: Bio-Physiology & Objective Measurements →
- Why OC is Different — The Original Science Behind GNM Dentistry →
- Why Anterior Deprogrammers Fail the Complex TMD Patient — And What GNM Does Instead →
- Why Posterior Occlusal Support Matters — The Neurophysiologic Explanation →
- Antagonist to the Scientifically Based Neuromuscular Philosophy →
- What Dental School Never Taught You About Occlusion →
- Lateral Pterygoid Muscle: Its Relevance to Clinical Dentistry →
- Which Occlusal Plane Do You Understand? Don’t Get Confused →
A Glimpse of the OC GNM Curriculum
THE PATHWAY HAS A SUMMIT
Your Training Earns Recognition
Fellowship · Mastership · Diplomate — merit-based honors earned through documented cases, section examinations, and peer review. Few dentists have ever received them. That is the point.
About Your Teacher
Clayton A. Chan, D.D.S.
Founder, Director, and Teacher · Occlusion Connections
Dr. Clayton Chan is the originator and developer of Gneuromuscular Dentistry — a pioneering framework that integrates gnathologic and neuromuscular principles into a unified, physiologically grounded system of diagnosis and treatment. He is widely recognized as a foundational pillar in physiologic dentistry — a clinician whose teachings have resolved clinical questions that textbooks and lecture halls left unanswered for decades.
His teaching is not theoretical. It is lived, tested, and refined through more than 38 years of advanced clinical practice — every principle proven at the chair before it is ever taught in the classroom.
Before founding Occlusion Connections, Dr. Chan served as Director of Neuromuscular Dentistry at LVI (2000–2006). He holds Mastership and Fellowship in the International College of Cranio‑Mandibular Orthopedics (ICCMO) and continues to teach the complete OC Masterclass curriculum personally, in small‑group settings, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ready for GNM Masterclass Training
“We are fanatical about gathering and understanding objective measured data. Without it we cannot make effective changes to improve our results.”
— Dr. Clayton A. Chan, D.D.S. · Founder, Occlusion Connections
Statement of Purpose & Declaration: Occlusion Connections™ (OC) programs are for scientific and educational purposes only and will not promote the products and/or services of a company directly. Clayton A. Chan, D.D.S. is independent and free of any commercial support or any external funding from any of the various dental supply companies represented at this program. OC has ensured that educational objectives, course content, teaching methods, and instructors or advisors are selected independent of commercial interest.
Occlusion Connections — The Center for Gneuromuscular Dentistry and Orthopedic Advancement
6170 W. Desert Inn Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89146