Neuromuscular Dentistry...

To understand Neuromuscular Dentistry (NMD), it helps to first know a few things about your occlusion or “bite”.  Your occlusion is the way that your upper and lower teeth fit together.  If your teeth do not fit together properly (misaligned bite), the muscles and joints accommodate – work to get them together.  A misaligned bite often leads to muscles that are overworked when they should be relaxed, leading to various painful conditions.

Neuromuscular Dentistry (NMD) is a term applied to techniques that expand upon the traditional approach to dentistry and considers the entire system that controls the positioning and function of the jaw.  The neuromuscular dentist seeks to establish a jaw position based on a harmonious relationship of the three main factors affecting occlusion,

the teeth, muscles and jaw joints.  The resulting jaw position is called the neuromuscular bite.    

Headaches – The Dental Connection

Most people don’t think to mention headaches to their dentists.  Yet, muscle-contraction (tension) headache is the most common form of headache.  It typically results in pain  on both sides of the forehead and sometimes in the neck as well.  The temporalis muscle, located in the forehead and to some extent around behind the ear, is the muscle group that postures your jaw.  A 2007 AGD publication stated that experts estimate that 75 percent of all headaches are caused by muscle tension, which may be related to the bite (Academy of General Dentistry www.agd.org).  Simply stated, if your forehead muscles have to work overtime to properly align your bite, they may go into spasm which in turn leads to poor oxygenation of the muscle, retention of by-products of metabolism, and – ultimately – pain.

There are many possible causes of headache.  The Neuromuscular Dentist is trained and equipped to diagnose and treat headache of muscle tension origin.  Non-invasive tests can establish whether or not muscle tension may be the cause of your headaches and whether dental treatment might solve you headache problem.  If you suffer more then an occasional headache or frequently take medication for headache pain, it is well worthwhile to talk to a Neuromuscular Dentist about it.

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