What you need to know about occlusal therapy.
Did you know that headaches, jaw aches and pains in your face can actually be made better by a visit to your dentist? That’s right! We in Nashua, New Hampshire wants to introduce you to an easy way to make you feel better. It’s called occlusal therapy.
The chewing surfaces of your teeth are called the occlusal surfaces, meaning they “occlude” or touch your other teeth to chew. Ideally, the stress of chewing should be distributed evenly on all your teeth. Your teeth should “share the load,” but this doesn’t always happen. The consequences of one or more teeth taking on more chewing stress can be tooth breakage or fracture, the need for root canals due to pulp damage or bruising and even teeth moving back and forth, weakening the ligaments holding your teeth in place.
If you are grinding your teeth at night, you are placing excessive pressure on one or more of your teeth. Your Nashua dentist will determine which of your teeth are taking on the most stress, and polish them down slightly to be more in line with your other teeth. He can custom make a nightguard designed to be worn at night to protect your teeth.
Another major issue sometimes resolved with occlusal therapy is temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems. The TMJ is the joint that connects your jawbone to your skull. It can become inflamed, stressed or shifted out of place by trauma. TMJ problems frequently cause headaches, difficulty opening, closing and chewing, and jaw pain.
For TMJ problems, our dentist is an expert at assessing your TMJ and making adjustments to the occlusal surfaces of your teeth to reduce the stress on certain teeth. He will custom make a TMJ splint designed to be worn much the same as a nightguard. The TMJ splint will relax the muscles of your head, neck and face.
We practice many different methods of occlusal therapy, and only he can tell which method would be best for you. If you are having trouble with headaches or face and neck pain, don’t suffer! Stop by the office of us in Nashua, New Hampshire for an occlusal therapy consultation. Call today and find out what occlusal therapy can do for you!
