Neuromuscular Dentistry - An approach to dealing with pain caused from unhappy muscles.

Neuromuscular Dentistry - An approach to dealing with pain caused from unhappy muscles. Neuromuscular dentistry is a form of dentistry that seeks to create a balance in the position of the jaw where the teeth, muscles and jaw joint operate in harmony. The emphasis is placed on finding the position of the jaw where the muscles are balanced and relaxed. “Traditional” dentistry focuses on the position of the teeth relative to the reference position of the condyle in the jaw socket (hinge joint) Neuromuscular dentistry recognizes that the muscles that move the jaw must be in a comfortable, relaxed position in order to not be in conflict with the teeth and joint.

Common symptoms that occur when teeth, jaws and muscles are in conflict include:

  • Headaches
  • Loose teeth
  • Worn, chipped, or cracked teeth or fillings
  • Clenching or grinding
  • Ditched root grooves
  • Pain or clicking and popping in joints
  • Shoulder, neck, and back pain
  • Numbness in arms and fingers
  • Pain behind the eyes
  • Facial pain
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Pain and sensitivity in teeth
  • Crowded teeth
  • Receding gums
  • Ringing or congestion in the ears

   

The Height of your Bite - With your teeth touching a measure can be taken from the edge of you gums of the top teeth (See diagram need to make one) to the edge of your gums on the bottom teeth to check the height of your bite (Vertical Dimension). Most times the measurement should be 18 mm +/- 2mm. This measure is called the Shimbashi. Many times people that experience pain have a Shimbashi less then 17 mm. Furthermore the path of closure of their teeth can cause unnecessary muscle activity leading to the above symptoms. The comfortable position of the jaw is recorded using a T.E.N.S. machine. This is a three dimensional position in space and is often irrespective to the position of the teeth. This device delivers a mild electrical impulse to the muscles that move the jaw. The rhythmic pulsing (once every 1.5 seconds) relaxes the muscles. In addition to relaxing the muscles, it sets up ideal muscle function by increasing blood flow, flushing out toxins. We often find that after 45 minutes of stimulation, the muscles are in their ideal position.

Once the jaw is relaxed to its resting position, a record of this position is taken for further treatment. Once we have verified the comfortable position of the lower jaw using the bite records, we can fabricate an orthotic that allows the jaw to close to this ideal position. In this position, the muscles are at an ideal length and will not go into spasm. Muscles will heal, pain trigger points will go away, and joint capsules will heal. This orthotic is left in place for three months to stabilize the bite and insure that all symptoms are gone.

At this point a decision is made to wear the orthotic indefinitely, have orthodontics done to move the teeth to this ideal position, have one or two arches of teeth restored, or to adjust the bite to this ideal position. For more information on neuromuscular dentistry, please contact our dental office.