Suffering from head and jaw pain? There May be an Easy Answer.

In less than 20 minutes, Dr. Peter Barnett can quickly and painlessly examine you, provide a diagnosis and actually show you the potential reasons for your pain and other symptoms, which may include:

• Headaches (chronic or irregular)
• Migraines
• Clicking/popping of the jaw joints
• Clenching and grinding (bruxism)
• Tinnitus (ringing of the ears)
• Muscle tension and pain in the face and neck
• Sensitive teeth due to overloaded forces
• Broken teeth or dental work
• Uneven tooth wear and cracking
• Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD)
• Limited range of head/neck motion
• Reduced mouth opening range
• Accelerated bone loss in periodontal disease
• Vertigo
• Ear pain not from infection

All of the above symptoms and others can be the result of force related issues within the head, neck and jaw. The jaw joint (temporomandibular joint) is the most complex joint in your body and is located very close to 50% of all of your body’s nerves and right next to your brain.

When operating correctly, the jaw and its muscles should painlessly exert massive forces within your mouth. Your jaw and teeth are living, growing tissues. Teeth grow, wear and move throughout your lifetime and can become affected, like any other tissues If the forces (muscles, tendons, nerves and ligaments) which power your jaw are unbalanced or creating improper forces. Many dental related problems can show up within your head, neck and jaw, not just with your teeth.

Some of the causes of the symptoms we can treat may include:

• Age and Wear

As the body ages, so does the bite. Natural teeth wear at different rates from the dental work utilized on many patients. Fillings and crowns for example can be made from amalgam, precious metals, ceramics, etc. The different materials within your mouth can cause improper alignment of the teeth and forces the muscles and tendons to work harder to compensate for the imbalances. As we age, joints and cartilage also are reduced in thickness changing angles and forces within the overall dentomandibular region. As you grow older, your teeth and bite change, potentially causing many of the symptoms which can be treated by a dentist.

• Head, Neck or Body Trauma

Vehicle accidents, sporting activities or even your baby bumping his/her head against yours can be causes of force related symptoms in the head, neck and jaw. The list of causes of trauma is long. Current symptoms may have been created years ago by an event long since forgotten or dismissed as minor. Head, neck or jaw trauma can cause stretching or tearing of the ligaments and muscles along with other unseen and often undiagnosed force imbalances and impairments.

• Dental Repair and Orthodontics

Some of the causes of symptoms can be poor adaptation to completed dental work, aged restorative materials and, in some cases, from poor adaptation of the patient to orthodontic changes.

• Stress, Diet, Posture and Frequent Computer Use
  

If you are leading a stress free life, congratulations, you are less likely to have force related symptoms in your head, neck and jaw. For the other 99% of the world, stress and poor posture (such as from sitting in front of a computer for hours) can result in many of the symptoms outlined above. Weight gain and improper eating habits can also contribute to your head, neck and jaw pain.