“My dental problems started when I began wearing an upper night guard two years ago.”
A sixty-nine year-old woman presented with mouth and jaw pain. She recently had a crown placed in the upper left molar area and was having a root canal redone on a lower left posterior tooth. She also had pain in her left TMJ and had geographic tongue.
After her dentist said everything looked fine, she consulted with the best of the best at the University of Pennsylvania. They concurred as her mouth looked perfectly normal.
In my world, there were a few aspects that they overlooked. First, her brain cycle was zero seconds, which can send the fifth cranial nerves, the pain nerves of the teeth and jaws, off the rails. Secondly, they did not notice fascial strain focused in her two painful areas.
Most importantly, they did not realize that her upper night guard, which she had worn faithfully every night for the last two years, was taking her brain cycle to zero seconds.
I spent the visit helping her body release oral strain, as she opened to a brain cycle of 60 seconds. I told her to refrain from wearing her appliance to see how she responded to therapy over the next few visits.
I have seen many patients stop wearing these appliances on their own because they felt much worse. I hypothesize their restricted maxillary bone motion created a domino tightening effect throughout their craniosacral fascial system. She had no idea that this appliance could be part of her problem.
For the past 50 years, I have seen this unfortunate phenomenon. Dentistry needs to ditch the maxillary night guard.
At the next visit, I found that fascia from her left hip was pulling into her left TMJ. I first became aware of this connection in the 1970s while studying with chiropractors. The fascial web is all connected in space and time.
In keeping this story real, the patient decided to discontinue therapy since she was not responding as quickly as she had hoped. I can understand that completely, but in my world, everyone presents with an onion of trauma.
The root cause of her issue may be a deeper layer that needs to be accessed and cleared. But patients have freedom of will in America, and I respect that right without judgment.
Gillespie Approach Training is a great tool to have in your therapy toolbox for a wide variety of conditions.
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