Dental Library- Headaches

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People suffering from headaches, dizziness, neck or back pain, may be experiencing symptoms of Temporomandibular Disorder, or TMD.

TMD is actually a number of disorders that have their origin in the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ). Located near the ear, the TM Joint allows people to chew, swallow, speak and yawn. Dentists check the TM Joint for TMD during regular check-ups. Aside from the symptoms listed above, TMD also causes clicking, popping or grinding of the joint.

Studies suggest that TMD may be caused by stress and stress-related behavior including teeth grinding, jaw clenching or nail-biting. These habits can cause a patient's bite to be out of balance, which in turn causes TMD. An out of balance bite can also be the result of crowns or bridges being too high or too low, or dentures that fit poorly, or an accident or blow to the head.

Treating TMD may include filing teeth, using a dental appliance, stress therapy or the use of analgesics or muscle relaxants. Oral surgery is a final alternative in severe cases but surgery is very rare.

People can help themselves by placing warm compresses on and around the jaw before bed, as well as massaging and carefully stretching the jaw to help relax the muscles. When relaxed, one's lips should be together, while the teeth should be slightly apart with the tongue resting against the roof of the mouth.

Headaches can also come from blood flow restrictions in the narrow arteries and veins in the brain. This reduced blood flow can be due to the blood vessels being partially of full blocked or by athrosclorotic plaques or by something as simple as constriction due to stressor muscle tension. The facial muscles are very close to the brain and muscle tension form them can often be a cause of headaches. Excess facial muscle tension can come form many sources. If a patient has parafuctional habits such as bruxing (grinding), clenching or chewing on foreign objects such as your nails, pens or pencils you are at a much higher risk of developing facial muscle tension headaches.

It is important to determine if the cause of the patient's headache since proper treatment depends on proper diagnoses. Facial muscle tension headaches can often be treated by noninvasive or minimally invasive treatments in the dental office by fabricating bruxing appliances and or equilibrating the patient's occlusion (bite). More serious causes of headaches such as obstructed blood vessels need the attention of a neurological medical specialist. So don't delay call for an appointment today there is help for your headache and delaying treatment could be life threatening!

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