Muscles in Dentistry

Most people including many dentists do not realize the important role that muscles play in Dentistry. The movements of our jaw in chewing, speaking, yawning, eating, swallowing are all controlled by muscles. The muscles must work in harmony with the teeth and the joints of the jaw. When this harmony does not exist it can lead to a variety of problems such as bite problems, muscle pain, and jaw joint problems to name a few. A number of years ago, a study was performed to investigate the effect of an imbalanced bite on the alignment of the spine of rats. Pre-study x-rays were taken of the rat's spine. A small filling was bonded to the biting surface of one of the rodent's molars. This created an imbalance in the bite of the animal. A few weeks later another x-ray was taken and the result was that the spine developed very obvious curvature. At this point the small filling was removed and another x-ray taken a few weeks later revealed that the spine had returned to its normal pre-study shape. What does this mean to we humans. The planes of the body such as the line of our shoulder heights, or the line drawn through our hips or our knees seek to be level to the world. If an unbalancing stimulus is introduced, such as the filling in the rat, our bodies will compensate for the irritation by shifting the balance of our weight and the muscle alignment can and will change. Imagine a pebble in your shoe while you try to walk a few city blocks. As this pebble becomes more and more irritating, we will try to shift our posture to avoid the irritating feeling of the pebble. This can lead to muscle pain in our legs, excess pressure on the hip on the opposite side to the pebble, perhaps a sore back, and eventually the neck and even the jaw muscles. This same cascade of events can occur in the opposite direction when the bite is imbalanced and the muscles of the head and neck become strained as a result. This consideration of the effect of muscles in dentistry is one of the aspects that the approach to dental treatment called "physiologic neuromuscular dentistry" takes into account. If you suffer from chronic headaches, jaw pain, limited jaw opening, neck pain, and many other symptoms, then this may be an approach to dental care that can help. Over the next few postings, I will discuss some of the applications of this approach and how it may be of help to many people. Dr. Marty Frankel, 416-770-8526, drmartyfrankel@rogers.com