Dr. David Alexander Keith, MD

I know I have had Reiter's Syndrome (RS) almost since birth. Its first appearance was in my ankles. Walking on concrete sidewalks or standing for long periods of time was very painful. By the time I was 25 RS had appeared everywhere below my neck. By the time I was 50 it was everywhere. Well, actually, after Dr. Keith reviewed the MRI I knew that my bite had "drifted" to my right for a reason: both TMJs were highly affected. That was around 1990 when prostheses for TMJs were risky. He said I would have to wait. I did ... in 2012 Dr. Keith and his staff at MGH replaced both TMJs. The operation took seven hours plus. I had minimal pain immediately following the operation (I discovered morphine did nothing for me except make me drowsy). I had a few follow-up visits. It's now 2018. I no longer have a "drifting" lower jaw; I rarely bite my cheeks; I can't whistle as well by pursing my lips, so instead I learned to use my front teeth and tongue differently. BTW: Dr. Keith used me as a… reference; one person was a musician with the BSO; after he heard my experiences (numbness from both ears towards my lips), he decided to wait until he stopped playing "uber-professionally" before he had a TMJ replacement. I have since learned that Dr. Keith has retired from active practice; a staff person at MGH says he does consult with the residents.

Dr, Keith was great with my 12 year old daughter who has been struggling with many issues within her mouth. He was very comforting and we left very happy with his results and how he believes he can fix many of the problems!