About Jeff Shaefer, DDS
Dr. Shaefer is a general dentist with a board certification in orofacial pain and general dentistry. As the director of the Orofacial Pain Clinic at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM), he maintains a dental practice where he treats facial pain, temporomandibular disorders, and sleep apnea (sleep disruption), and conducts restorative dentistry. He teaches pain and anxiety management, emergency medicine for dentists, and the post-graduate Pharmacology course.
At Mass General - Boston, Dr. Shaefer serves as assistant professor in the OMS Department and director of the Post-Doctoral Orofacial Pain Fellowship. At his Boston clinic, he specializes in facial pain, temporomandibular disorders, and sleep apnea. At Mass General - Danvers, Dr. Shaefer cares for patients with sleep apnea.
Before joining Harvard, Dr Shaefer built 22 years of dental practice and leadership experience in the USAF Dental Corps. He was one of two TMJ/orofacial pain specialists in the Air Force and the chief of the TMD and Orofacial Pain Clinic at Keesler Medical Center, the Air Force's second largest medical center.
Before his fellowship (see below), Dr. Shaefer served in Europe for 7 years as a base dental surgeon (chief dentist), deputy medical facility commander, and medical facility commander.
Dr Shaefer is a diplomat of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain, the Federal Services Board of General Dentistry, and the Academy of General Dentistry. He is a member of the International Association of Dental Research, the American Academy of Orofacial Pain, the American Pain Society, and the Academy of General Dentistry. He maintains an active dental license in Massachusetts.
With Dr Shaefer as co-PI, HSDM was selected by the National Institutes of Health Pain Consortium as one of 12 US health professional schools to serve as Centers of Excellence in Pain Education. HSDM was the only dental school chosen as the lead institution.
Clinical Interests:
- Facial pain
- Oral and maxillofacial surgery
- Oral devices, fixed and removable
- Pediatric Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
- Temporomandibular joint disease (TMJ)
Treats:
- Adult
Locations
Mass General Dentistry at Longwood
188 Longwood Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617-432-1434
Mass General Dentistry
165 Cambridge St.
Charles River Plaza
Suite 401
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-1076
Medical Education
- DDS, Georgetown University Dental School
- Residency, Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center/SGHR, 59 MDW/GE
- Fellowship, University of Minnesota
American Board Certifications
- Dentist, Federal Services Board of General Dentistry
- General Dentistry, American Board of General Dentistry
Accepted Insurance Plans
- Aetna
- Beech Street
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Dental
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare
- Cigna
- Commonwealth Care Alliance
- Coventry
- Delta Dental
- Fallon Health
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Humana
- Mass General Brigham Health Plan
- MassHealth Dental
- Medicaid CT
- Medicaid ME
- Medicaid VT
- Medicare
- Medicare ACO
- Met Life Dental
- Multiplan
- Senior Whole Health
- TriCare
- Tufts Health Plan
- United Health Care
- Wellpoint
- WellSense
- WellSense NH
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
Dr Shaefer's research interests involve investigating the role of inflammatory mediators in chronic facial pain, the efficacy of treatments for orofacial pain / temporomandibular disorders (TMD), and the validity of diagnostic tests for the identification of TMD.
Publications
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Select Publications:
- Vranceanu A-M, Shaefer JR, Saadi AF, Slawsby E, Sarin J, Scult M, Benson H, Denninger JW: The relaxation response resiliency enhancement program in the management of chronic refractory temporomandibular joint disorder: Results from a pilot study. J Musculoske Pain 21(3): 224-230, 2013.
- Pain and temporomandibular disorders: a pharmaco-gender dilemma. Shaefer JR, Holland N, Whelan JS, Velly AM. Dent Clin North Am. 2013 Apr;57(2):233-62. doi: 10.1016/j.cden.2013.02.005.
- Analysis of Criteria for MRI Diagnosis of TMJ Disc Displacement and Arthralgia.Shaefer JR, Riley CJ, Caruso P, Keith D.Int J Dent. 2012;2012:283163. doi: 10.1155/2012/283163. Epub 2012 Dec 9.
- Johnson TM, Badovinac R, Shaefer J. Teaching alternatives to the standard inferior alveolar nerve block in dental education: outcomes in clinical practice. J Dent Educ 2007 Sep;71(9):1145-52.
- DaSilva AF, Shaefer J, Keith DA. The temporomandibular join: clinical and surgical aspects. Neuroimaging Clin N Am. 2003 Aug;13(3):573-82.
- Pehling J, Schiffman E, Look J, Shaefer J, Lenton P, Fricton J. Interexaminer reliability and clinical validity of the temporomandibular index: a new outcome measure for temporomandibular disorders. J Orofac Pain. 2002 Fall;16(4):296-304.
- Shaefer JR, Jackson DL, Schiffman EL, Anderson QN. Pressure-pain thresholds and MRI effusions in TMJ arthralgia. J Dent Res. 2001 Oct;80(10):1935-9.
I really appreciated the fact that it was a multidisciplinary team and they spent a good amount of time talking to me. They were super friendly. They really wanted to get to know me and the problem that I was having and to help me. So I found that the team was great. I appreciated the length of time that the visit took. It seemed very thorough and ... Read More
Dr. Shaefer listened to my concerns about changing my treatment and decided to stick with what we had done before until we got some other tests done. He was very easy to talk to about this and I was glad that we had discussed it so I'm waiting to get that test done and then I'll go back and see what the next step is. Thank you.
This office has state of the art medical equipment that was used to help diagnose my jaw issues. Dr. Shaefer is an expert in the field, very knowledgeable, and explained my medical issue in layman's terms. He has a plan moving forward and I consider myself lucky to be under his care.
I have seen Dr. Shaefer FOR MANY YEARS, at present I need more information and out meeting was brusk.
Good experience in discussing my issues concerned about the appliance, mouth appliance or sleep apnea with Dr. Jeffrey Shaefer. [redacted].
Yes, Dr. Shaefer's visit with [redacted] was a success. He is always very nice and treated me perfectly. So he's a wonderful doctor.
This appointment went well. Key concerns were addressed, discussed treatment options, and clarified next steps.
It was pretty obvious Dr. Shaefer is seriously good at what he does. I feel completely confident he will get me into the right mandibular device that will put me back in the right place with my sleep apnea ...and I'll be able to feel my best again
I've been a patient with Dr. Shaefer for a very long time and I'm always honored to refer someone else to him. My husband is going to get an appointment. He needs a night guard for him with CPAC. So I'm very enjoyable to have him as a doctor.
The care provider and the staff in his office were excellent. No complaints about them. [redacted]