Have you ever considered your teeth to be the culprit of your daily headache? Studies suggest that 75% of all headaches are muscle-contraction headaches that could be tied to a poor bite. The alignment of your teeth and jaw as well as bad habits such as clenching and grinding can contribute significantly to your headache. So before you continue to pop that aspirin for relief day in and day out, you may want to see your dentist to get to the root of the problem. Dentists can offer patients drug free headache prevention.
The proper alignment of your teeth, joints, muscles and nerves is critical for your jaw to function correctly. When this delicate balance is disrupted, you can experience painful conditions such as TMD (Temporomandibular Disorder) and malocclusion (poor bite). The amount of soreness and pain patients who have bite issues can be unbearable as their jaw muscles are often overstretched and overworked constantly. Jaw and bite problems can start to dramatically affect a person’s quality of life and cause chronic headaches if left untreated. Head and neck pain on a daily basis can lead to poor sleep and even depression.
Your jaw and teeth alignment issues can be avoided with a proper diagnosis from your dentist. If you are suffering from dental related headaches, your dentist can offer you a custom made night guard or bite splint that will treat your TMD or malocclusions and prevent grinding and clenching that leads to chronic headaches. There are other dental restoration procedures that could also help to restore a properly aligned bite as well.
Next time you reach for that bottle of aspirin or think there is no hope for your chronic headaches, talk to you dentist for answers.
