Many individuals do not realize that muscles play an important role in dentistry. The science of Neuromuscular Dentistry (NMD) evaluates and treats your overall oral health by considering how your muscles, teeth and joints all work together.
To understand 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 to get them together. A misaligned bite often leads to muscles that are overworked when they should be relaxed, leading to various painful conditions including headaches, muscle pain in the neck and shoulders, ringing in the ears and numbness in the fingers and hands.
Neuromuscular Dentistry 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 the jaw joint (TMJ). The resulting jaw position is called the neuromuscular bite.
To find the proper neuromuscular bite, the Neuromuscular Dentist uses techniques to relax the muscles that you bite with. These include the use of a TENS machine, which uses gentle electrical stimulation to deprogram the muscles. After this has occurred, usually within 40 to 60 minutes, the Neuromuscular Dentist can measure and confirm the relaxed position of your jaw. The usual bite can then be compared with the ideal relaxed bite to determine if the bite should be adjusted.
Dr. Joel Miller has been trained in Neuromuscular Dentistry at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies. Joel S. Miller, D.M.D., M.A.G.D. practices Neuromuscular Dentistry at the Miller Studio for Dental Artistry, 27616 Newhall Ranch Road, Suite 5, Valencia.
For more information on Neuromuscular Dentistry and how it can help you, contact our office at 661-257-5858 or visit www.valenciasmiles.com .