One of the things that we love to see is how an aesthetically beautiful smile can unlock a persons personality. But perhaps the most rewarding and dramatic way we see people's lives change is by the removal of chronic pain and fatigue that often results when your jaw is not able to close in a restful anatomically correct position.  The relationship between the jaw and the muscles that support it has opened up a whole new area of dentistry called Neuromuscular Dentistry.  

You can think of your teeth as the top of your spine because your teeth often dictates your resting head posture thus affecting your neck and shoulder muscles that stabilize the cervical spine.  Moving the jaw a few millimeters is sometimes enough to prevent migraine headaches or chronic neck and back pain that have persisted for years.

If you get headachy or have pain on your jaw or neck, you may be just a few appointments away from life changing pain relief.

Conceptually, Neuromuscular Dentistry can be thought of as making peace between three important components of a healthy bite.

- The Teeth

- The  Joint (TMJ)

- The muscles supporting and holding your jaw and neck.

Your teeth must close together for you to chew your food and for added neck stability.  So if you are forced into a compromised neuromuscular position by your teeth, it creates a state of war between the three components of your bite. 

One or more of these components must loose the war in order to accommodate your uncomfortable jaw position.

If the muscles loose this war the results are often chronic neck tension, tension type headaches or even migraines.  This can also result in a host of other diverse symptoms.

 

If your temporomandibular joints loose the war, the results are jaw problems such as clicking and popping that may eventually lead to chronic inflammation and irreparable degeneration of the joints.

If the teeth loose the war, you will find yourself clinching and grinding down your teeth at night.  This is often why expensive and quality dental restorations break on some people while lasting a lifetime for others.  Grinding of the teeth is called bruxing and is often resolved very quickly with Neuromuscular treatment.

For more information on this kind of treatment, feel free to contact the office for a complimentary consultation.  Also check back soon as we are just building this website and will be adding more information about treatment.