Neuromuscular Dentistry

Neuromuscular Dentistry Directory

s with cosmetic dentistry, neuromuscular dentistry requires post-graduate training. Both of these types of dentistry are relatively new dental specialties and more and more general dentists are seeking this additional education. The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI) is widely regarded as the school of choice for neuromuscular dental training and most dentists who attend LVI and graduate are then certified in both these specialties.

What is neuromuscular dentistry?

It's the dental specialty that diagnoses and treats a set of symptoms known as Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD). TMD is also known as TMJ, standing for Temporomandibular Joint with the term Syndrome understood. Another name for it is Myofacial Pain Dysfunction Syndrome, which is a term more used by medical doctors than by neuromuscular dentists.

The jaw joint

TMD is a "bad bite". It's a misaligned jaw joint and usually misaligned teeth as well. The jaw joint can be felt by touching close in front of your ears and opening your mouth. This is a ball and socket joint where the lower jaw connects to the skull. It's the most flexible joint in the body, as it can move in three directions:

• Up and down
• Forwards and back
• Sideways

The lower jaw fits into the upper socket with a pad of cartilage in between to prevent the two bone surfaces from rubbing against each other. When the jaw joint moves as it should, and the teeth are properly spaced and aligned, the upper and lower teeth come together smoothly without bumping or wearing on each other.

The jaw joint consists of more than just the upper and lower jaw bones. The lower jaw (mandible) has ligaments connecting it to the skull, muscles which move it, nerves which carry messages between it and the brain, and blood vessels to nourish it. Neuromuscular dentistry considers all these structures when assessing your teeth and bite.

Jaw joint problems

The jaw joint can become misaligned. A blow to the side of the head could do it, which could happen in childhood and you might never know the jaw joint itself had been injured. Your attention might be on bruising, infection, or other types of injury aftermath. But after a while you'd start to notice TMD symptoms without necessarily connecting them to the injury. The jaw joint could also be slowly pushed out of alignment by habitual teeth grinding or by misaligned teeth which prevent the bite from being normal. (It can work the other way too, with a misaligned jaw slowly pushing teeth out of alignment.) Hereditary factors can also contribute to a misaligned jaw joint.

Consider how many times each day we move the jaw joint, for chewing, talking, laughing, yawning etc. In between all these movements, the jaw muscles should be relaxed, just as our leg muscles, for instance, are relaxed when we lie down and don't use them. But if the jaw is misaligned, the jaw muscles keep trying to correct it, to make it close correctly and bring the upper and lower teeth smoothly together.

As months and years go by, these muscles become chronically strained with the never-ending effort. Thus some painful TMD symptoms start to manifest, and typically headaches are the most disabling. The person usually goes to see a doctor at some point, and gets a pain medication. It will work temporarily, but more time goes by, headaches keep recurring, and another doctor may be consulted. What the person needs to do is see a neuromuscular dentist.

A skilled and experienced neuromuscular dentist has invested not only in advanced education, but also in sophisticated and specialized technology for diagnosing and treating TMD. It may seem surprising that headaches would have a dental cause. They may not, and you may not have TMD after all, and some other condition may be causing the headaches. But it's worth visiting a neuromuscular dentist to rule out TMD.

To learn more about TMD & TMJ, please see our TMD Symptoms and Diagnosis page, TMD Treatment page, and the Frequently Asked TMD Questions page.