Is it nerves? Is it muscles? Do you get headaches on a consistent basis? Do you blame it on stress? You are not alone. Using a neuromuscular approach to treating patients can help the many headache sufferers. But what exactly is it? Neuromuscular dentistry is nothing new. Actually, it has been around for some 30 years, but is not the traditional approach to patient care in dentistry. It refers to the muscles of the head and neck, the nerves related to them and how they all work together. The symptoms of neuromuscular disharmony are related to the ”TMJ” or temporomandibular joint. Many patients complain that their jaw pops and clicks. They often complain of pain around the joint. If you have these symptoms, then you are not alone. In reality however, 99% of people do not have true “TMJ” problems. Unless trauma or injury is involved, pain from the joint comes from the surrounding muscles and get them relaxed, then the majority of symptoms will resolve. But what are the symptoms? As you read them, think of how many apply to you.

Headaches or migraines
Pain or pressure in and about the eyes
Sinus problems
Tinnitus ( ringing in the ear)
Clogging or stuffiness of the ears
Subjective hearing loss
Pain in or around the jaw
Stiffness or soreness in the neck, shoulders and back
Radiating pain down your arm to your fingers
Snoring
Vertigo (dizziness)
Habits of grinding
Clenching your teeth
Sensitive teeth

These are just a few of the symptoms that may be related to neuromuscular disharmony. Make no mistake headaches are not just from stress. Neck and shoulder problems are not just from sitting at a computer for many hours. Sinus problems are not just from allergies. But how does all this relate to your teeth? If you have ever seen a person with no teeth in their mouth, it almost appears as if their chin can touch their nose. That is because their teeth are not present to create a vertical stop as to how far they can close. Well, just because you have teeth does not mean that you close at the correct position. As you use your teeth they wear and shorten, causing you to be over-closed when your teeth are in contact. Now here is where the muscles come into play. At complete rest, your teeth are separated by a certain amount. Dentists call this freeway space. When it is time for your teeth to be put to use for eating or chewing, the muscles contract. Now imagine that you have worn or shortened teeth. Your freeway space is larger than ideal, and the muscles have to contract more to get the teeth to make contact. The muscles do not like this and compensate by staying perpetually contracted, causing spasms, pain and soreness. After a while they get fatigued, produce lactic acid (which is what causes the spasms and discomforts) . With the use of electromyography (electrical muscle activity), joint sonography (sound), jaw tracking, muscle palpation, and the most simple test of all, asking you about your symptoms, the probable can be diagnosed and treated accurately and conservatively. So next time you reach for the advil for that afternoon headache, think of what it would be like to be headache free and come in for your comprehensive exam today. I look forward to improving the quality or your life

If you suffer from the following symptoms, chances are you suffer from Temporomandibbular disorder, and neuromuscular dentistry can help you.

headaches
pain in and around the jaw and TMJ areas
sounds from your jaw joints, clicking, popping, grinding
snoring
dizziness
grinding or clenching your teeth
stiff, sore neck and shoulder muscles (pain radiating to the fingers)
toothaches or sensitive teeth unrelated to cavities or hum disease
clogging or stuffiness or ears with subjective hearing loss
abnormal tooth wear at the gum line often being attributed to brushing too hard
ringing in the ear
pressure behind the eye

If you answered yes to one or more of these, we can help you. Please give us a call at (858) 490-4281, so we can assist you in improving the quality of your life.

Myotronics K7

The K7 Evaluation System provides the dental clinician or researcher with three distinctly different technologies for measuring, displaying and storing objective data on physiologic and anatomical status and function. This objective data enhances the doctor’s diagnostic and treatment considerations with information not previously available.

The K7 Evaluation System is supplied in a compact housing that can be plugged in to the serial port of virtually any PC type computer, desktop or laptop. Small and portable, the unit and its peripheral apparatus can be quickly stored in the provided protective case for ease of transportation. Windows based software simplifies operation and color graphics make it easy to distinguish overlapping data from multiple channels and to print attractive reports for patient education, insurance or referring doctors.

For over thirty years, Myotronics has been dedicated to strong customer support. One small example is "Kevin's Pearls". Registered owners of K6-I or K7 Evaluation Systems can have helpful users tips sent by e-mail every week. These tips from our head programming engineer aid customers in deriving maximum benefits from their instruments.