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http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/add_comment.asp?id=16817
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The treatment of chronic pain
By TOSHUA E. PHILLIPS
http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/story.asp?id=16817
Most people pop a Tylenol when a headache persists and consequently lie down for a nap. But, what do you when the throbbing won’t leave you?
Going to a dentist is the farthest thing that comes to mind. It might be the solution, however.
About 80 percent of headaches derive from muscle tension that links to your bite, according to “Headaches & Dental Health,” a pamphlet written by Dr. Kenneth U. Lau and Dr. Wiley Green.
“When you have a headache, who in their right mind would go to a dentist?” Lau asked. “So, they go to a physician. And, then a physician will eventually refer the patient to this office.”
Lau has repeatedly seen current patients be misdiagnosed simply because doctors and other dentists lack knowledge in temporomandibular (TMJ) disorders.
The “J” in TMJ stands for joints, the left and right, which connect your lower jaw, known as the mandible, to the skull. According to the American Pain Foundation, the dysfunctioning and painful joints and lower jaw muscles spawn eating, talking and swallowing problems, along with other mobility issues. The foundation noted pain sufferers also might hear popping of the joints when moving the jaw.
And, what if you don’t have popping? There are those chronic headaches. But they run short of entailing the list of symptoms and signs one might face: unusually tender jaw joint, jaw stiffness, neck tension, toothaches, bruxing (teeth grinding, gnashing and clinching) and even earaches.
Pat Beck, for example, suffered from really bad earaches. She didn’t have an ear infection, so she bounced from doctors to dentists trying to get to the root of the problem. Health care professionals couldn’t pinpoint the source of her constant headaches, either.
“I don’t know how many CAT scans I had at my medical doctor for headaches,” Beck said. “I thought I was having bad headaches since I lived in Indiana with all these allergens.”
Her jaw muscles were huge from malocclusion (bad alignment of her teeth), causing her to brux.
Since Beck’s jaw muscles were accustomed to being closed down, leaving inadequate space between her teeth, they had to be rebuilt. Lau inserted a bridge and a crown (for some people braces are required) to treat her TMJ. Now, Beck said she rarely has headaches or earaches.
While in school and out, he noticed most professionals simply ignore such facial disorders simply because they aren’t trained or aware of TMJ. Although Lau has practiced all phases of general dentistry since 1974, he now devotes his time to TMJ and occlusal disorders at TMJ Treatment Center in Pendleton.
“It’s a gray area in both dental and medical (fields),” he said. “The medical doesn’t look at TMJ and the dental doesn’t look at TMJ. Health care professionals try to treat it with medication, because any kind of pain can be knocked out with medication.”
The dentist’s years of research and experience spurred him to put his know-how on paper. His publications include “MPD/TMD Defined as TMJ: Teeth Muscle and Joint,” “Orthosis Thickness and Its Effect on Temporomandibular Joint Space,” and “The Effect of Orthotic Devices on Freeway Space.”
He also received a provisional patent for the software “The Complete Program for TMJ.”
Since Lau has been bringing his services to patients for 31 years, he’s now bringing his expertise to other dentists as well. In-house training for dentists is slated to begin soon to better educate them on how to treat the disorder.
Mary Duncan, who works for Lau, said there are Madison County dentists listed in the phone book who treat TMJ, but they don’t specialize in the disorder.
“At the end of the day, (suffering) patients will be coming to me,” Lau said. “They call it the red-haired orphan nobody wants.” |
Another sad article about TMJ- doctors lost......
Posted - 11/11/2005 : 07:16:09
