Brendan C. Stack Sr.

STACK Brendan C. Stack, Sr. (Age 83) An orthodontist whose five decades of work helped clinicians better care for patients suffering from chronic craniofacial pain, died July 24, 2020 at the Sunrise Nursing Home in McLean, VA. Dr. Stack was expert at diagnosing the cause of chronic face and head pain and used orthodontic techniques, many of which he developed, to relieve pain, suffering and associated symptoms. Dr. Stack started to develop an interest in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction in the 1960's, before dysfunction in the joint had been recognized as a complication of previous orthodontic treatment or as a source for headaches, facial pain, imbalance, gait disturbance among many other symptoms. He discussed his thoughts and impressions with many contemporary colleagues and advanced his and their knowledge. Such prominent pioneers in this field with whom Dr. Stack collaborated included: Drs. Harold Gelb, Lawrence Funt, Bruce Kinney, William Farrar, and Jack Hayden among many others. As a result of this early observations, he was a co-developer of the F-S and later the K-F-S indices of TMJ symptoms which became standard diagnostic instruments. This, combined with the care of thousands of patients, led Dr. Stack to lecture widely about his approaches and techniques for TMJ therapy. Patients came from throughout the USA and abroad to be treated by Dr. Stack. Dr. Stack later developed a special interest in how TMJ treatment might also help Tourette's patients, particularly teenagers and preteens. Over the years, he noticed that the overwhelming majority of these patients had facial tics, eye blinking, eyelid tics, mouth tics, head nodding, shoulder shrugging and head tremors. He treated these patients as TMJ patients for pain but also noticed all of these tics dissipating at the same time. When word started spreading throughout the healthcare community that he could get rid of these associated tics, Tourette's patients started coming to his practice. He was very successful in improving their symptoms and quality of life. He developed quite a following of these patients. The positive reception from Dr. Stack's presentations resulted in many annual continuing education lecture courses and the self-publication of many books and video presentations. He also had over a dozen peer-reviewed articles published in the scientific literature. Dr. Stack was responsible for mentoring, consulting and training many TMJ focused practitioners across the country. He was also a co-founder and inaugural president (1985-1990) of the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain (www.aacfp.org) which was established to educate and certify practitioners that treat craniofacial pain. He was named "Clinician of the Year" in 1988 by the American Association of Functional Orthodontists. He was the Tufts' University (Boston) 2003 recipient of the "Lifetime Achievement Award" for his years of contribution to the field of Craniofacial Pain. Dr. Stack's last practice was in Vienna, VA where he had been located since the early1980's. He resided in McLean, VA for over 50 years. He raised seven children with his former wife, Marilyn K Stack-Lutz (Peachtree, GA). He leaves behind his children Brendan C. Stack, Jr., MD (Springfield, IL), Jennifer L. Wheeler (Phoenix, AZ), Maureen K. Stack (Medford, OR), Valerie A. Waite (North Salt Lake City, UT), Alexander J. Stack (Daly City, CA), Matthew A. Stack (Manassas, VA), Diana L. Milani (Longwood, FL), and 20 grandchildren. Services previously held. A permanent online memorial may be viewed at www.drstack.com. Memorials can be made to the AACFP, 380 Ice Center Lane, Ste C, Bozeman, MT 59718 in lieu of flowers.