Neuromuscular Dentistry Park Ridge

Our Park Ridge dental office understands that your oral health has a complex interrelationship with your overall health. One of the ways we understand this is with neuromuscular dentistry. Neuromuscular dentistry explains the complex relationship between the parts of your bite and explains how temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders can cause such widespread and diverse symptoms.

If you are looking for a neuromuscular dentist in Park Ridge, please contact Complete Health Dentistry today.

Neuromuscular dentistry understands that the different components of the bite are an interdependent unit. The teeth, muscles, their related nerves, the bones, and the joint tissues are all considered part of a system that has to perform complicated functions like biting, chewing, swallowing, speaking, breathing, and balance, all while sharing space and sometimes functioning in conjunction with nearby systems and structures.

Neuromuscular dentistry explains how occlusal disease (an unhealthy bite) can contribute to such diverse symptoms as we see in TMJ disorders.

When the jaw joint can’t get to its healthy, comfortable position, the muscles will strive to reach it. This causes the muscles to pull against the bones, pulling the teeth together in destructive ways (bruxism). It also puts strain on the jaw joints, which can dislocate or otherwise damage them. This is how TMJ disorders cause symptoms like jaw pain, tooth wear, and popping and clicking in the joints.

As a result of the constant strain and lack of rest, your jaw muscles can become sore. This is another potential cause of jaw pain. It can also cause headaches, since some of the jaw muscles stretch all the way up the side of the head and attach at the temple.

Meanwhile, the jaw muscles don’t operate alone. They partner with other muscles in the head and neck. When the jaw muscles are stressed, they can pass this strain on to their neighboring muscles. As a result, these other muscles can get sore, leading to neck pain, shoulder pain, and additional headaches.

Some of the connections to jaw muscles are surprising. Bones and muscles of the middle ear connect to your jaw muscles. These tiniest bones in the body are easily influenced by the large jaw muscles, contributing to ear-related symptoms.

Meanwhile, when the jaw is tilted, it can cause the shoulder and spine to tilt in order to restore balance. This tilting of the spine and shoulders can pinch the narrow tunnels through which nerves travel to the arms, leading to tingling and numbness.

Due to the complicated relationships between muscles, nerves, teeth, and bones, you can see how a single, small cause can lead to a chain reaction of symptoms. In a similar fashion, neuromuscular dentistry treatment can use a relatively simple treatment to create a chain reaction of relief. Using a combination of technologies, including the OccluSense system and electromyography therapy (EMG), our experts can measure nerve activity and bite occlusion to provide us with the knowledge necessary to craft an effective treatment plan. Treatment methods like the DNA appliance and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) can then be used to guide and promote proper alignment of the jaw in both children and adults.

The goals of neuromuscular dentistry treatment are simple:

In order to discover the jaw’s healthy resting position, we have to relax the jaw muscles. Otherwise, the tense jaw muscles keep pushing toward old, unhealthy habitual positions. Dr. Kuchta uses TENS as the most effective way to relax these jaw muscles for diagnostic purposes. When Dr. Kuchta figures out the healthy resting position, he will order a bite splint that will hold your jaw in that position.

With TENS, people often feel immediate relief, but it may not be complete. Over several weeks of wearing a bite splint, symptoms will continue to improve. After about six weeks, your symptoms may be completely resolved.

Once your symptoms are resolved, you may be able to wear your bite splint less than all day. For some people, though, they must keep wearing their bite splint at all times. This is very inconvenient, and we may recommend Phase 2 treatment: full mouth reconstruction. Full mouth reconstruction builds up your bite until your teeth alone can hold your jaw in its healthy resting position. Then you’ll enjoy permanent relief from TMJ disorder symptoms.