Heal Thyself – Not!
Q: Many years ago, I had a lot of dental work done. It has served me well, but about two years ago I was hit while driving on the side and rear of my car. It has caused all kinds of neck and back pain, fatigue, loss of strength, and at times general malaise. For about a year after, I was not really able to carry out my regular and energy requiring activities of a wife, mother, grandmother, and member of the community. I saw various health specialists, had tests, and recommendations – was treated by physiotherapy and over the year got somewhat better – a tolerable facsimile of myself. During that time, I didn’t see my dentist. It was an appointment I could put off, I told myself. Besides, the thought of getting out one more time was exhausting.
After about fifteen months, I decided I’d better get a dental check-up so in I went. At the exam, my dentist looked at my bite and said, “Have you noticed anything different about your bite?” “No,” I said. “It’s off – way off,” he said. “We need to get that adjusted.” “No, no,” I said, “it’s always been that way,” in a tone that said don’t touch anything, leave well enough alone. “Ok,” he said, “but this could lead to headaches, backaches, tiredness, fatigue, soreness, and even loss of strength, energy, and alertness.” “I’m fine,” I said.
Since then, I’ve been back twice, and he’s mentioned it again. To which I’ve told him I’m fine, secretly harbouring the thought – I don’t want more problems, I can recover on my own. Am I wrong? Does a bad bite really have all those effects?
A: Bad bites in and of themselves may not universally cause all or any of these effects but trauma as you’ve described may have altered the attachments surrounding your jaw joints and caused rupture, tearing, or displacement. This may have led to your bad bite. Trauma plus a bad bite can produce these undesired harmful effects.
When the internal workings surrounding the ball and socket of your temporomandibular joint are altered either acutely (through accidents) or chronically (long term disfunction) your bite will change dramatically 100 percent of the time.
The gold standard of treatment after an accident, be it car, bicycle, falling off a horse onto your head, etc., is to see a dental practitioner trained in CT scan and MRI interpretation of the TMJ as well as bite reconstruction. The sooner the better. Once injured and the bite misaligned, your body may never heal properly. The ramifications are too detailed for this article.
Go, have the proper evaluation and treatment. It will make a great difference.
If we can help, we’d like to. Call 778-410-2080 for a consultation or visit us today.
Based on actual patient cases
@ Calvin Ross Crapo
778-410-2080