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About Neuromuscular Dentistry

About “Occlusion”

_{Although you may have never thought about it, every time you swallow, bite, chew, even yawn or sneeze you bring your teeth together. Most people swallow several thousand times each day! This makes the way your teeth come together (what dentists call your “occlusion” or “bite”) one of the most critical components of your dental health. If you have a healthy bite your teeth come together without muscle strain and with your jaw joints functioning in a smooth, quiet and uninterrupted motion. If any of these elements of your occlusion are not working properly you have an improper bite or what dentists call “malocclusion”.}
 

What is a Neuromuscular evaluation?

 _{As a neuromuscular dentist Dr Adams uses a specialized diagnostic instrument called the K7 Evaluation System to evaluate your occlusion. Using surface Electromyography Dr. Adams measures the activity level in your facial and chewing muscles at rest and in function. The next step is to observe the movement of your jaw when you open and close your mouth. With Electrosonography he records and analyzes the sounds produced when you open and close your mouth.}

What are the treatment options?

Once this information has been collected and analyzed, we use a special instrument called a Myomonitor to relax your muscles. The Myomonitor is an ultra-low frequency Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation unit (TENS) which, over a period of 45-60 minutes, relaxes the muscles of the face and neck. Once the muscles are relaxed we use the TENS unit in coordination with the jaw tracking instrumentation to record the most relaxed position of your jaw (called the Physiologic Rest Position). The path of closure of your jaw when the muscles and joints are working together in their most stable and natural form is called your “Neuromuscular Trajectory”. Your new bite will be taken along this path of closure or neuromuscular trajectory.

After we’ve created a proper bite along the correct neuromuscular trajectory we craft a special mouthpiece for you called an anatomical orthosis. The orthosis is worn over the lower teeth and serves to properly realign your bite orthopedically to the most muscle comfortable position. Once your muscles have become adjusted to this new position (usually over a period of 3-12 months), you will have several treatment options available to you:

Orthosis Therapy

• Orthodontic Therapy
• Reconstructive Therapy
• Combination of any of the above

_{The advantages and disadvantages of the treatment options you choose will be discussed with Dr. Adams. He can then co-diagnose your treatment options with you and help you select the treatment that will best suit your individual needs.}