You may not know you have a bite problem unless your jaw muscles are in pain.  Even then, you may not associate that pain with a dental cause;  jaw muscles can “refer” pain to your forehead, temples, under your jaw, behind your eyes, or to your ears and TMJ (which is located just in front of your ears).

If your teeth wear flat or break you may have no pain, but something is still wrong with the bite system.

When you are awake there is a “self-protect” mechanism that limits how much muscular force you can place on your teeth,  like a “speed limit” for your muscles.  This self-protect feature does not function when you are unconscious (i.e., asleep), so your jaw muscles can clench far past their daytime speed limit. 

One of your muscles helps your jaw seat into the cup-like TMJ.  Your back teeth may hit in a way that prevents the “ball-end” of your lower jaw from seating fully into the “cup” of the TMJ.  Then, this muscle tenses up to brace your jaw forward into this not-fully-seated position.  This can cause pain in your ear, TMJ, or behind the eye sockets.  Subtly reshaping your back teeth, a process known as equilibration, can allow your jaw to seat fully in the TMJ cup, reducing or eliminating pain and muscle bracing.

How do you know if equilibration can safely be done on you?  In some cases I can tell just by checking your bite.  In more complicated situations, I can take models of your teeth.  These study casts can be mounted on a TMJ simulator called an articulator.  Your bite can be studied in detail and a trial equilibration can be done on the models before I ever touch your teeth.

This makes the entire diagnostic and treatment process more predictable.

Words of wisdom

“Work like you don’t need the money.

Love like you’ve never been hurt.

Dance like nobody’s watching

And don’t look back;  something might be gaining on you.

                          Satchel Paige

Flossing and…..death?

Now that I have your attention, here are the results of a recent Swedish study:

Stockholm  - Severe teeth loosening increases the risk of premature death due to cancer or cardiovascular disease according to a new Swedish study, reports said Tuesday. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm tracked some 3,743 randomly selected people, aged between 30 and 40, when the study began in 1985.

"Actual loss of teeth suggests a disease that has been ongoing for some 15, 20 years without being detected," Professor Birgitta Soder, one of the study's authors, told the Goteborgs-Posten newspaper.  During the 16-year period, 110 deaths were registered. The average age of the deceased was 47 years. The average life span for women in Sweden is 83 years and 78 years for men.  "We found a clear link between severe tooth loosening disease, loss of one or several molars and a tripled risk of premature death," Soder said.

The researchers have not been able to explain the link but have a theory that a long-term inflammation during teeth loosening produces harmful  sub-stances such as cytokines that may impact the immune system. Another hypothesis was that the affected people suffered from a weakened immune system.  Some other studies have suggested a similar link between teeth loosening and a rise in cardiovascular disease.

Regina Brett’s List

Regina is a newspaper columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  She has written about the 50 greatest lessons life has taught her.  The following are my favorites:

1) Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2) When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3) Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4) Don’t take yourself too seriously.  No one else does.

5) You don’t have to win every argument.  Agree to disagree.

6) Cry with someone.  It’s more healing than crying alone.

7) Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

8) When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

9) Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

10 ) It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

11) Don’t compare your life to others’.  You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12) If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

13) You can get through anything if you stay put in TODAY.

14) It’s never too late to have a happy childhood., but the one you start now is up to you and no one else.

15) When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

16) Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.  Don’t save it for a special occasion.  Today is special.

17) Be eccentric now.  Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

18) No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

19) Frame every so-called disaster with these words:  “In five years, will this matter?”

20) What other people think of you is none of your business.

21) Time heals almost everything.  Give time time.

22) However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

23) Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends will. Stay in touch.

24) Believe in miracles.

25) Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

26) Your children get only one childhood.  Make it memorable.

27) Get outside every day.  Miracles are waiting everywhere.

28) If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

29) Don’t audit life.  Show up and make the most of it now.

30) All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

31) Envy is a waste of time.  You already have what you really need.

32) The best is yet to come.

33) No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.

34) If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

35) Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.