The Mouth/Body Connection
Welcome to the Gelb Center, a practice known for pioneering a holistic approach to treating temporomandibular disorders and sleep disorders, as well as providing comprehensive dentistry. Recent studies show a connection between the mouth, heart disease, and stroke – and this could affect you. We want to show you the connections between dentistry and medicine, and we also want to identify the true source of your pain and dysfunction. Then we’ll find a solution that will give you the relief you deserve.
Our dentists are among the few in the country who can restore your teeth while maintaining balance in your facial muscles and joints. We work as detectives to establish whether tooth pain requires prosthetic dentistry or if it is a sign of TMD - temporomandibular dysfunction. Some of our patients’ teeth have shifted or over-adjusted, and they have lost their optimal bites.
There is also mounting evidence that periodontal disease is intimately connected with heart disease. Our hygienists are aware of this connection and will work with you to achieve optimal periodontal health.
Your body is one unit that functions at optimal capacity when all systems work in harmony – when all connections are in proper balance with one another. At the Gelb Center, we understand the relationship between dentistry and the whole body, and we want to help you feel great, look great, and live life to the fullest.
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HEADACHE (forehead)
90% of all headaches are tension-type headaches that could stem from tension in the jaw. Frontal headaches, which are headaches that occur in the forehead, are very often referred up from the muscles in the side of the neck called the sternocleidomastoids. Headaches on the top of the head can be referred from muscles on the back of the neck such as the splenius capitis. There are also symptoms such as top of the head being sensitive to touch and shooting pain up the back of the head, which can be from compressions of the nerves which sit in the occipital region. Temporal headaches are very often a result of clenching, but also referred pain from the trapezius muscles. At the Gelb Center, we feel that Orofacial Pain Dentists are amongst the best practitioners to treat headache disorders, which have been unresponsive to other therapies such as medications. By decompressing the auriculotemporal nerve we are able to alleviate most headaches.
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EYE
Blurred vision is an often overlooked symptom of TMD along with pain behind the eyes, bloodshot eyes and sensitivity to sunlight.
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HIGH UPPER AIRWAY RESISTANCE SYNDROME (nose)
Upper airway resistance syndrome or UARS is a term that was coined by Christian Guilleminault from Stanford University in Palo Alto. Women who have UARS have all the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, but without the apnea-hypopnea index and without choking and gasping for air. There is a resistance to breathing which results in frequent arousals throughout the night, resulting in extreme fatigue or extreme excessive daytime sleepiness. A qualified sleep laboratory can make the diagnosis of upper airway resistance syndrome or RERA, which are respiratory effort related arousals. Click here to read more.
HIGH UPPER AIRWAY RESISTANCE SYNDROME (nose)
Upper airway resistance syndrome or UARS is a term that was coined by Christian Guilleminault from Stanford University in Palo Alto. Women who have UARS have all the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, but without the apnea-hypopnea index and without choking and gasping for air. There is a resistance to breathing which results in frequent arousals throughout the night, resulting in extreme fatigue or extreme excessive daytime sleepiness. A qualified sleep laboratory can make the diagnosis of upper airway resistance syndrome or RERA, which are respiratory effort related arousals. Click here to read more.
INTEGRATED DENTISTRY (mouth)
Integrated Dentistry is the term used to describe a different concept to the usual style of dentistry practiced in the average dental surgeries in the United States. Integrated Dentistry is best described as: a comprehensive approach to dental health, making use of the most up-to-date research and technologies working hand-in-hand with the traditional knowledge of the "alternative" approaches to health.
The Integrated approach to dentistry recognizes that everything that is done to the teeth has an affect on the rest of the body in various ways. Instead of looking at the teeth as if they were independent of the rest of the body, Integrated Dentistry investigates the teeth, mouth, jaw joints, facial tissues, head and neck all as integral parts of the entire body.
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COSMETIC DENTISTRY (mouth)
A smile can be the most eye-catching feature of a face. With dentistry's many advances, you no longer have to settle for stained, chipped, or misshapen teeth. You now have choices that can help you smile with confidence.
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TEMPORAL TENDINITIS
The temporalis, a jaw closing muscle, attaches to the coronoid process at the temporal tendon. With chronic clenching the patient develops temporal tendinitis which I call the “tennis elbow of the jaw. It is treated with rest and steroid injections. Click here to read more.
JAW AND MOUTH
Myofascial pain is a dull and aching pain in the jaw and TMJ and is the number one reason patients come to see us along with ear, nose, and throat complaints. Sometimes the pain is caused by overuse of the jaw clenching muscles. This is called temporal tendonitis which is the tennis elbow of the jaw. Patients often experience clicking in the jaw, a jaw that feels locked or out of place or having trouble opening, closing, or have malaligned teeth or jaws. These are indications that the TMJ could be inflamed, dislocated, or arthritic. Because of estrogen receptors found in the TM joint, girls and women going through hormonal changes are especially susceptible to TMD. 90% of our patients are women, 40-50% going through perimenopause.
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AIRWAY (mouth)
Many difficulties start with airway obstruction. Whether it is the structural way your body is built such as a large tongue or long palate or a behavior you have developed. Symptoms associated with TMD appear as trouble swallowing, laryngitis, the feeling of something caught in your throat, frequent coughing, or sore throat with no infection. This is also where sleep disorders show up. Particularly, sleep apnea and high upper airway resistance.
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VERTIGO (forehead)
Dr. John Beck, an orthopedist, feels that the TMJ is the gyroscope of the body; which helps to orient the vestibular system in the inner ears with vision and proprioception.
When the jaw is out of alignment it puts pressure on the temporal bone which houses the sensitive balance organs. Normalizing jaw alignment with the Gelb Appliance or Mora often leads to a correction of the malalignment of the balance organs.
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DIZZINESS (forehead)
Dizziness is a frequent complaint of our TMJ patients. Travell describes postural dizziness relating to the trigger point in the clavicular division of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. These trigger points also cause spatial disorientation.
The Gelb Center calls in a network of experts from various fields of expertise as well as our In-House Sleep Center and orofacial pain specialists. Diagnosis begins the moment we meet you. Even how you smile can tell us something. We pinpoint the true source of pain and whenever possible, find a nonsurgical way for you to help your body heal itself.
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EAR
The temporal bone and the mandible form the temporomandibular joint. Patients often come to us after visiting an ear, nose, and throat doctor who has found his exam to be normal. A nagging feeling of fullness in the ears, like they will not clear or like you are under water can actually be relieved by treating the jaw. When the equilibrium in the jaw is off, your can experience vertigo or dizziness. All the above symptoms are part of the otomandibular syndrome, which is one of our most common findings.
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NECK AND BACK
The TMJ nerve, which is the trigeminal nerve, connects neurophysiologically to the nerves of the cervical spine, so that when the TM joint is overloaded or inflamed, the neck muscles are also involved. When the clenching muscles of the jaws are activated, they also activate the muscles in the neck and shoulders, which can be responsible for radiating pain down the neck, shoulders, and into the back. Other patients have a condition called fibromyalgia, which is responsible for ongoing stiffness and sore, tired muscles and this occurs when the jaw is aggravated and sleep is disturbed. Arm and finger numbness or pain can also occur.
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NECK AND BACK
The TMJ nerve, which is the trigeminal nerve, connects neurophysiologically to the nerves of the cervical spine, so that when the TM joint is overloaded or inflamed, the neck muscles are also involved. When the clenching muscles of the jaws are activated, they also activate the muscles in the neck and shoulders, which can be responsible for radiating pain down the neck, shoulders, and into the back. Other patients have a condition called fibromyalgia, which is responsible for ongoing stiffness and sore, tired muscles and this occurs when the jaw is aggravated and sleep is disturbed. Arm and finger numbness or pain can also occur.
Click here to read more.
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