|
One in eight people suffer from recurring
headaches that are so severe they cannot carry out normal
living! An estimated 80% of all headaches occur from
muscle tension. Did you know that many tension headaches
are related to your bite? Find out how headaches can
result from dental stress and how your dentist might
treat them.
Headaches are our number one pain problem
in our population. Approximately 40% of all healthy
individuals suffer from chronic headaches. Head pain
is not new. Early civilizations relied on magical potions
and spells to cure headaches. In severe cases, holes
were drilled in the skulls of headache sufferers so
that the evil spirits, which were believed to be the
cause of the pain, could escape.
Over the years we have learned much about
what causes headaches and how to treat them. Today,
there is a growing realization that a common cause of
tension headaches is a bad bite. The muscles fatigue
from being unevenly contracted, in order to get the
teeth to come together. Muscles, very often, have to
hold the jaw bone far back behind upper front teeth
to close, pushing the jaw bone too far back in the jaw
joints, destroying jaw joint structures. We swallow
and/or close 2500 times per day and each time, the muscles
have to bring the teeth together. This muscle fatigue
causes grinding and wear facets on the teeth, bone bulges
on the jaw bone. This is called tori. Notches are commonly
formed at the neck of the teeth, where the gum and tooth
meet. These are called abfractions. The gum tissue will
recede, as well the bone supporting the tooth. The teeth
are often sensitive, break or crack, causing previous
restorations to fail. Headaches, hearing loss, jaw joint
clicking, neck problems, ear ringing, dizziness, finger
tip tingling are just some of the symptoms that people
with a "bad bite" suffer from.
|
