Having started my career as a periodontal and TMJ specialist in 1975, I was fortunate to have found that the root cause for most TMJ patients was birth trauma.
In the 1970s, I was treating patients with headaches and jaw clicking and popping, most of whom were clenching and/or grinding their teeth. I discovered that craniosacral fascial therapy was especially helpful for them.
During six years of infant research from 2007 to 2012, I noticed that the newborns, who had difficulty breastfeeding, especially latching on, had fascial strain in either or both TMJ areas. After the strain was fully released, they could breastfeed well.
I noticed that their lateral pterygoids, or jaw opening muscles, were tight, not allowing them to fully open. In breastfeeding, the nipple has to reach deep in the oral cavity to the soft palate for a good latch. If the infant cannot open sufficiently, a shallow latch can result where s(he) would bob on and off the nipple.
When I studied the vaginal birth, I noticed that the left side of the fetal face has to pass over the coccyx at delivery. As a natural part of the birth process, the coccyx normally fully extends to safely allow this phenomenon.
If it does not due to a previous maternal tailbone injury, that rigid osseous tissue can easily injure the passing fetal face. I found that TMJ trauma is predominately left-sided in a normal birth.
At the same time, the cheek tissue is often strained, in some cases up to the eye socket. Tight fascia here has a tendency to create a nasolacrimal duct blockage, resulting in a “goopy” eye.
Over time, I experienced a significant uptick of infants with oral tie issues where many lactation consultants and dentists quickly jumped on the surgical bandwagon. I believe that some infants with true oral ties needed the surgery, but many others did not require the surgery.
I discovered that these professionals did not look for TMJ fascial strain. As a result, I believe that many infants, who did not respond well to the procedure, had needless surgery.
Some infants, who were diagnosed as failure to thrive, had bilateral TMJ strain. Often the fascia on the right side of the face cleared first after a few visits while the left side needed more therapy sessions.
Adults with TMJ can experience a lot of pain. I believe that, for many patients, this problem could have been prevented with therapy at birth.
Gillespie Approach Training is a critical skill for all newborn providers.
