About Neuromuscular Dentistry

Neuromuscular dentistry assesses your entire system of teeth, joints, and muscles to ensure that they are working harmoniously with each other. When your jaw is out of alignment, it can never fully relax, causing painful symptoms like jaw, head, neck, and back pain. The ultimate goal of neuromuscular dentistry is to ensure every aspect of your bite is working together to create an optimum state of health and wellness.

Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD/TMJ)

A relaxed bite is essential to your oral health and your overall health and well-being. Your jaw is supported by a sling of muscles that guide your teeth together. Even when your jaw is resting, your muscles are positioning your jaw. Therefore, if your jaw joint and muscles are constantly straining to keep your bite in an improper position, this can lead to adverse conditions, including temporomandibular joint disorder (referred to as TMD or TMJ). The muscle pain and tension resulting from the continual stress on your jaw joint can lead to other symptoms such as:

• Headaches and migraines
• Jaw popping or “lockjaw”
• Pain in your jaw joint, face, neck, upper back and/or shoulders
• Ear congestion or ringing in your ears
• Dizziness or vertigo
• Numbness or tingling in your arms
• Damaged fillings and dental crowns
• Difficulty sleeping, eating and enjoying normal activities

Neuromuscular Dentistry Treatments

Neuromuscular dentistry concentrates on correcting the causes of your pain. To alleviate your TMJ symptoms forever, not just temporarily, treatment plans are designed to correct your bite abnormalities.  Allowing your upper and lower jaws to contact in a relaxed muscular position will

Your neuromuscular dentist can address muscle pain and spasms through a low-frequency Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS). This works by the placement of electrodes on your jaw, neck and shoulder areas. These electrodes transmit mild electrical stimulation to repeatedly contract your muscles, causing them to relax through a sort of self-massage. TENS also allows your jaw to reach its ideal resting position, which will be recorded and used to develop a permanent treatment plan.

Long-term solutions include dental crowns and tooth reshaping to change the shape of your bite, or Invisalign® or orthodontics to move your teeth into the correct position. An oral appliance such as a splint or mouth guard can also be worn at night to stabilize your jaw.

If you live in the Valencia, California area and would like to find relief from TMJ/TMD, the dental team at Aesthetic Dentistry of Valencia can help. Please contact our Valencia office today to schedule your no-cost consultation, so we can determine which treatment method is best for you. We proudly serve patients from the Santa Clarita, San Fernando, Saugus, Newhall and Valencia areas.