What is Neuromuscular 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!
NMD uses techniques to consider the entire system that controls the positioning and function of the jaw and tools such as J5 and K7x to arrive at optimum balance.
The primary goal of NMD is to determine the jaw position that is associated with relaxed posturing muscles and adjusts your bite to that position. It addresses issues like TMJ disorders, headaches, neck/facial pain, earaches, and teeth grinding.
When these symptoms become too severe to ignore, consulting and seeking care from a dentist with knowledge of treating misalignments by creating neuromuscular balance is paramount. Dr. Merchant is trained in treating such misalignments with great success!
What to expect with TMJ treatment?
Treatment of TMJ will occur in phases, and not all patients will ever proceed through the phases at the same rate.
Phase 1 is a reversible “trial run” for 90 days or less. During this phase, the progress is evaluated through subjective improvements (as judged by the patient) and objective improvements with measurable criteria such as EMG readings, CT scan and so on.
Phase 2 is for further improving or stabilizing the symptom relief achieved in phase 1 for the long term. Several non surgical options are discussed such as considering a removable orthotic that has Day and Night time component or Fixed option of creating optimum occlusion for the balanced bite.
If you are ready to learn more about how balanced bite can help live healthy life, please contact Dr. Merchant at Arizona Sleep & Breathing at 520-299-1736.