Most migranes
are dental in nature. Many people seek help from physicians
from headaches when a simple bite-adjustment (equilibration) will
eliminate the common migrane headache. Your jaw is on two hinges
which allows it to open and close. If you were to look at a door
with two hinges but put ten latches on the door, if you were to
close the door, and all ten latches went click at the same time,
then the latches and the hinges are aligned.
This relates to
your jaw by when you use your two hinges to close, your back teeth
have mountain tops and valleys which fit together. We call these
cusp tips and fossa. If your mountains and valleys are not properly
aligned, you close on a slope. When you close on a slope this
causes your jaw to slightly shift.
Your body's response
is to unknowingly grind and clench your teeth. This sets off a
cascade of physical symptoms usually initiating with the common
tension headache in the temple area and in the top of the head.
This can cause severe migranes with flashes in your vision and
pain to the other areas of the head and neck. At our office we
have experienced an approximate 80% resolve of your common migrane
headache by simple bite-adjustment.
Our philosophy
is to treat out of a splint/nightguard, not into one. If your
TMJ problems involve joint degredation or mal-positioning due
to mal-occlusion then splint/nightguard therapy may be necessary.
Many people have clicking or popping in their joints. This clicking
or popping is the disk popping in or out of position. If you have
ever had your jaw locked open or locked closed this is most likely
due to the disk being out of position. A simple mandibular repositioning
can put your jaw back in place.
If your jaw is
locked open your symptoms are as follows: when you close your
teeth it feels like on one side they don't quite touch as they
used to, and often is painful upon hard chewing. In contrary if
your jaw is locked closed when you open wide you will feel one
side get extremely tight, and you will not be able to open all
the way. If these are your symptoms, the first home remedy is
to relax the muscles with heat or muscle relaxants and hope it
goes back in. If it doesn't go back in you should see myself or
another dentist as soon as possible.
