After years of working closely with a handful of dentists and TMJ specialists from the United States and Sydney, Australia; there’s one absolute trend that I see all too often. It is how the bite influence posture. This can then manifest problems such as headaches (including that of debilitating migraines), neck pain, hip pain, joint discomforts and even nerve pain. When a bite is “off”; it can stem from the temporal mandibular joint or it can be from the teeth. Whenever we bite down, there should be an even pressure throughout. If not, it is like having a pebble in your shoe making neutral walking practically impossible. Just as a pebble can shift the entire spine and posture; so can an abnormal bite. **see picture below. The lab rat on the right has a normal bite. As the bite shifts, so does the spine (picture left).
One of the biggest components to consider, however, is how the craniocervical junction plays into the bite. Which comes first? The upper neck misalignment that causes the cranial nerve (specifically CN 5 - trigeminal nerve that controls the muscles of mastication) or the TMJ displacement (or bite) that influence a misfire of the nerves that results in a distorted spine? It can actually be 50/50. Until we get one fixed, we will not be able to know its influence on the other. However, because the TMJ’s delicacy and changes to the bite is often permanent; the upper neck misalignment should be addressed first.
If you’re unsure if your health problems are an influence of the upper neck, contact us for a no obligation consultation.
These are no ordinary lab rats. What you can profoundly see is their shift in spinal posture as the bite is manipulated. How does this translate to our spine if we have dental malocclusion?