The body is a magificent self healing “machine”. More than oftern it will find away to adapt and compensate where there is direct or indirect trauma. Sometimes there is no room for adaption or compensation. After or before dental work often you can go through a series of symptoms (i.e jaw pain, headache, migraine, ear problems, congested sinuses, grinding of the teeth neck pain) that may give you a warning sign to see your dentist or osteopath. And sometimes they may need to treat accordingly to prevent further damage.
Dental work you may have done to relieve symptoms:
Extraction of teeth
Denture and Plates
No back teeth
Braces and Orthodontic work
After braces are moved
Bridges
Bruxism (grinding teeth)
During your search for the dentist or between your dental appointments- you may find yourself eating, drinking or even talking using more of one side of the face than the other, thus creating an unequal bite with resultant strain on the face, head and neck. This situation can persist and encourage other symptoms i.e headache, migraines, neck and back problem, unless seen to by the dentist or osteopath.
An upper Plate or Denture had an effect of holding the bones of the upper jaw tightly together, thus preventing there movement. It is important that the correct distance between the upper and lower jaw as it causes an imbalance to muscles and bones of face. Dentures should be replaced regularly as they wear down. Loss of teeth can eventually cause an imbalance in the action of the jaw muscles and thus give marked tension in the face and jaw. To prevent this tightening by the dentures they should be removed at night to allow the face bones to move freely.
Often when there is no back teeth all the biting and chewing is done from the front teeth which almost almost causes neck tension, causing headaches and neck pain. Check with your dentist for dentures and come in to get the tension throughout the face relieved.
Braces and Orthodontic work can have a dramatic effect of the face, head, neck and eventually whole body as it puts enormous stresses on the proposed teeth and there sockets it eventually causes strain through the facial bones giving headaches, clicking jaw, irritability, reduced concentration, neck pain and increased muscle strains. See your dentist and come in so that we can gently remove those stresses and strains while you see your dentist.
Osteopathic treatment is strongly recommended
BEFORE braces sre fitted. This will allow you to put the cranium in optimum position for the proposed development of the teeth.
DURING treatment (particularly after tightening braces); occasionally as to accommodate the additional load and change to other facial bones
AFTER to check for any underlying strains that may inhibit the proposed development of the teeth.
Bridges generally cause no or little change to the mechanic of the face. If the bridge is placed for the upper front teeth and adaptation is not complete you may find heachaches, sinus or ear problem, neck and back problems, as in this situation the upper jaw becomes permanently fixed together, which prevents the normal slight movement.
Grinding teeth may be a result of pressure in the head or face from retained birth compression. Grinding can also be the result of increased demand or stress that can put a lot of pressure on head face and neck. This can eventually lead to tension, tenderness and irritability in the muscle of the face and neck.
Cranial Osteopathy and Dental Work – An Established Conection.
Cranial osteopathy and dental work is performed by skillfull practioners. Dentists perform there work with skillful accuracy tominimalise the stress to the mechanics of the face. However there maybe musculoskeletal factors that cause you to see the dentist that an osteopath can help with. This is why it is imortant to establish a connection with your dentist and osteopath
“I came to see Kam following a recommendation from my doctor. I had severe neck and facial pain, that was particularly bad when I tried to eat or lie down. Kam identified the issue as an aggravated trigeminal nerve.
After seeing her the pain resolved and I managed to sleep for the first time in several days. At that point the root cause of the pain, a severe dental abcess, made itself known. When I wasn’t sure if it was related to the original nerve pain Kam talked it through with me and advised me to see my dentist who dealt with the dental problem.
Once this acute problem was better, I saw Kam regularly, and she was incredibly helpful in identifying and working on issues with my neck and jaw caused by a poor bite/misaligned jaw problem.
As I look at whether or not to go ahead with jaw surgery recommended by my dentist, working through the related issues with Kam, and looking at alternative routes has been really helpful. When I last saw my dentist he commented on the difference the osteopathy work had made on improving the movement in my jaw. Kam’s holistic approach to the problem and her understanding of the impact of my dental issues have been very helpful in this process.”
*****Jessica