Cosmetic Dentistry Blog

High school and college sports are about to start and on the list of supplies your child needs is a sports mouth guard. This may seem like a simple purchase which you can make at any sporting goods store for a few dollars. But you may not know that this simple piece of equipment can have a dramatic effect on your son or daughters sports performance.

If your child is a college athlete, or competing at a high level in high school, you should consider the Pure Power Mouth Guard, a custom fitted mouth guard that properly aligns the jaw, putting the entire body in equilibrium. This means, the muscles are completely relaxed and no longer compensating to hold the body's posture together.

Now the muscles can release more energy, power, strength, flexibility and increased range of motion to the body. Even professional athletes, such as Terrell Owens and Olympic champion Michael Redd found a 30%-80% increase in their athletic ability when using the PPM.

It sounds crazy that a mouth guard can make you stronger, improve your flexibility and increase your balance. But this mouth guard, derived from neuromuscular dentistry, shows how connected your bite is to the rest of your body. The idea is to find the ideal bite position (where the muscles and joints are most relaxed) and build that position into the appliance.

If you are interested in better sports performance, playing to the best of your ability, request a consultation with Dream Smile Dental.

Many adults suffer from chronic jaw pain. Some common symptoms include pain in or around the ear, tenderness of the jaw, clicking or popping noises when opening the mouth, or headaches and neck pain.

Two joints, the temporomandibular joints or TMJ, and several jaw muscles make it possible to open and close the mouth. They work together when you chew, speak or swallow. These various muscles located in the face and neck hold your jaw, control the movement of your jaw, as well as allow you to chew and swallow. This muscle movement is done subconsciously, and if your bite is off, your body automatically strains your muscles to allow for your jaw to work; this is called accommodating.

The TM joints are among the most complex joints in the body. Located on each side of the head, they work together to make many different movements, including a combination of rotating and gliding actions used when chewing and speaking. Any problem that prevents this complex system of muscles, ligaments, discs and bones from working properly may result in a painful TMJ disorder. If your bite is off balance, your muscles will work extra hard to hold, control and allow for the chewing and swallowing. Overtime, the temporomandibular joints become over stressed and TMJ dysfunction occurs.

Diagnosis is an important step before treatment. Neuromuscular dentistry uses modern technology to assess the function or dysfunction of the jaw and creates the optimum bite for your specific case while creating your new beautiful smile. The goal of the neuromuscular dentist is to find the natural position of your jaw and restore it to its optimal position of balance, thus eliminating TMJ disorders. This takes the pressure off of your joints and overstrained muscles, eliminates jaw or teeth clenching, and allows for your muscles to act naturally.

This treatment can also pinpoint the source of your headaches, ear congestion, dizziness, difficulty swallowing, neck pain, jaw clenching or teeth grinding, jaw joint pain, and even nervousness or insomnia. If you are interested in a TMJ consultation, please contact us. Enjoy a more well rested smile and appearance.

What is TENS?

Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation (TENS) is a term given to battery operated instruments that provide a gentle painless electrical stimulus through the skin to nerve pathways. At Dream Smile Dental, we use ultra-low frequency TENS to deliver a stimulus through the nerve pathways of the head and neck. These gently exercise the muscles controlled by those nerves, and causes the muscles of the head and neck to relax.

How are muscles related to dentistry?

Head, neck and jaw muscles play a very important role in your dental health. Different muscles come into play for posturing, opening, and closing the jaw and swallowing. The muscles that keep your jaw from falling open are small and go from the jaw upward through the cheeks, into the forehead and around the ear. If your teeth don’t fit together properly, these muscles are over-worked. Subconsciously holding these muscles tense for a long time can result in muscles spasms, and tension. Tense muscles restrict blood flow and oxygen to those muscles, and also prevent the washing away of waste products like lactic acid. This eventually leads to headaches or other head and neck pain.

Can’t I just relax these muscles?

No. If your teeth don’t fit together correctly, you subconsciously hold your jaw in a position that often causes muscled tension. It is very difficult to change this on your own and often requires a lot of training. Ultra low frequency TENS relax the muscles of the head and neck.

How does it work?

Electrodes are placed on your skin over the nerves controlling the muscles of the head and neck. The TENS unit is attached to these electrodes. It delivers mild stimulus to those nerves every 1.5 seconds. This causes the muscles to react, and it causes the rhythmic exercising of the muscle. As time passes, these muscles begin to relax and blood flow through them is increased. Because it is repetitive it causes the rhythmic exercising of the muscle. As time passes, these muscles begin to relax and blood flow increases clearing away lactic acid build up and producing healthier more relaxed muscles, resulting in comfort and relief. In most cases, the muscles become relaxed after 45-60 minutes.

When does Dream Smile prescribe TENS?

If we are treating you for a dental issue where we want to relax the head and neck muscles in order to find your best bite, TENS is applied in the office. However, there are occasions when we will prescribe a small TENS unit for home use called the BNS-40. This is a much smaller version of the office  unit which applies the same stimulus to the muscles.

We may prescribe the home unit for the following:

•   To relax your muscles before you come to the office for dental treatment or analysis.
•   To relieve muscle tension pain.
•   To determine whether relaxation of your facial and neck muscles will lead to pain relief.

What would you think if someone told you that a mouth guard can make you stronger, improve your flexibility and increase your balance? Those are the benefits a Pure Power Mouthguard (PPM). Custom fitted, the Pure Power Mouthguard, properly aligns the jaw putting the entire body in equilibrium.

When the body is in equilibrium, the muscles are completely relaxed and are no longer compensating to hold the body's posture together.

The muscles now have the capability to release more energy, power, strength, flexibility and increased range of motion to the body. Professional and amateur athletes from many sports are praising it, including Terrell Owens and Manny Ramirez.

This appliance, derived from neuromuscular dentistry, shows how connected your bite is to the rest of your body. The idea is to find the ideal bite position (where the muscles and joints are most relaxed ) and build that position into the appliance.

The bite is found by relaxing the muscles and then jaw tracking is done to see, in real time, where the bite is most relaxed. After recording these measurements and creating models of the mouth, we can fabricate the PPM. Once the PPM is placed in the mouth, the jaw automatically moves into the correct position instantly liberating stored energy. It has been found that when a person is in this position, they are better able to use their strength, increase their range of motion, and improve their balance. Background muscle tension is relaxed allowing them to use their body more efficiently.

How is a Pure Power Mouthguard different from a regular mouth guard?
A regular mouth guard is made of material that is heated up and then the teeth are squeezed into it. This material is not durable or comfortable which why you see athletes chewing on the guard and taking it out. 

The pressure-heat laminated mouth guard fits on the teeth, but the material shifts the bite so that the muscles have to work harder. It has been found that athletes with these ill fitting guards may even perform worse with this type of guard.

The Pure Power Mouthguard is a comfortable custom-fitted appliance, using specialized computer technology to pinpoint and capture your ideal bite position. If you or a friend is serious about your sport, call Dream Smile Dental to see if you are a candidate for the Pure Power Mouthguard.