Your genetic makeup can affect your head and neck function in a number of manners. It can be important in your response to allergens in the environment. It can allow for structural imbalance of hard and soft tissues. It can alter your response to noxious stimuli you encounter. It can alter your response to strain by altering the sense of having pain or not having pain.

Genetic potential is often just that. A potential. Factors that affect the expression of your genetic potential are called “EPI-Genetic” factors. ‘EPI’ means ‘above’ and these are factors that alter the growth of our body, no matter what the genetic potential was. Jaw growth is a great example of epi-genetic growth factors. If a child breathes through their nose and their teeth are together and their tongue sits in the roof of the mouth, their facial growth is more in line with their genetic potential. If there is a genetic sensitivity to allergens in the child’s environment, the epi-genetic factors of restricted nasal breathing will alter facial growth away from ideal.

This can go unnoticed for a significant period of time, leading many sufferers of TMJ disorders to experience headaches, dizziness, and other symptoms without understanding the root cause. Sometimes an early corrective device can help in this situation, allowing the child to develop more to the ideal potential.

One of the most common causes of TMJ disorders is an imbalanced bite or malocclusion. If the bite is unbalanced in its function, the head and neck structures are chronically strained. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves of the head and neck.

While noticeable TMJ related signs and symptoms might occur following injuries or accidents, an unbalanced bite can be a long-term co-factor. The problem with assessing a direct cause to TMJD symptoms is that dental malocclusions are endemic in the modern world. Most people who have a malocclusion can live without pain or problems and it is not till an injury occurs that a painful symptoms arises.

The strain of a malocclusion is not limited to teeth. Since our body is an interconnected, interactive and interdependent machine, the strain in the body from a malocclusion can be far reaching and often cause problems far from the upper and lower teeth. It takes a thorough examination to see how a once thought simple malocclusion or imbalance is affecting body structures in the neck, back, hips, knees, and feet. And visa versa. How our body is interconnected is complex and allows us to function without being perfectly aligned. But chronic strain and stress, including the way we bite, can affect our overall health

Sometimes a person may have a standard dental procedure to repair a tooth or restoration. However, the sensitivity of the mouth, teeth, jaw muscles to an even slight misalignment of the way teeth touch can cause or create TMJ issues. This type of problem can be particularly frustrating as it often is nearly impossible to isolate without the use of specific measuring equipment such as the Tscan.

The Tscan is a tool used to measure the force, position and timing of tooth contacts. It can be valuable information if a new crown or filling is affecting the patient’s comfort. Since the way we bite is sensitive to 20-30 microns (the size of dust motes in a sunbeam) the occlusal forces of our bite can be difficult to balance. As technology catches up to the physiology of our body, it becomes easier to help patients who have bite imbalance issues.

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