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The Connection Between Jaw Pain, A Misaligned Bite, and Poor Posture

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If you do, you’re not alone. Millions of people experience these symptoms because of a condition called TMJ disorder, or TMD for short – temporomandibular disorder.

Today, you’ll learn more about this condition, why it causes pain, and how it can impact your overall health – including your posture.

What Causes Jaw Misalignment and How Does This Lead to Jaw Pain?

Jaw misalignment causes jaw pain because of the strain that’s placed upon the muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments of the head. When all of these tissues are in proper alignment, the jaw functions at full capacity and without pain.

The strain, though, can lead to headaches, migraines, and tooth pain. It can even lead to cracked or broken teeth.

What causes misalignment and TMJ disorder? There are a number of causes, including:

  • Missing teeth
  • Gaps in the teeth
  • Enamel wear
  • Crowded or crooked teeth
  • Anatomical dysfunction of the jaw, including overbite, underbite, and crossbite, due to improper jaw development. Jaw development is altered when there is an airway problem and/or improper tongue function early in life.

It’s important to note that TMJ disorder will eventually lead to problems with your overall health. In addition to all of the dental problems TMD patients face, they can also end up with:

  • Sleep apnea (which can cause many medical problems)
  • Bad digestion
  • Making poor nutritional decisions (because no one wants to eat crunchy carrots when you have jaw pain or sore teeth)
  • Fatigue
  • Instability and poor posture.

How a Misalignment of the Jaw Can Affect Your Overall Health – Even Your Posture

Is the idea that the misalignment of your jaw can lead to poor posture a new one for you? You’re not alone. Many people don’t realize just how impactful TMJ disorder and jaw pain can be on the rest of the body.

It’s amazing just how intricately connected the entire body really is, which is why a dentist West Kelowna, Dr. Shauna Palmer will encourage you to get treatment for TMD. It’s not just about fixing the teeth – it’s about fixing the body. And science backs this up.

Researchers at the University of Barcelona, Spain and the University of Innsbruck, Austria, found a correlation between dental malocclusion and posture in separate 2016 studies.

The data from these studies showed that when one part of the body is out of alignment, others will be as well. So, patients with TMJ disorder are more likely to experience muscle fatigue, loss of balance, and pain throughout their body.

How does a loss of balance fit into this scenario? It’s due to the vestibular nerves related to balance and control, as well as the trigeminal nerve, which is the main nerve involved in mastication.

The muscles of the neck also play a role, and when there is strain and tightness, which is common in TMD patients, these nerves are activated. The result is jaw pain, as well as pain throughout the head, neck, and shoulders, as well as loss of balance and stability.

Thankfully, a dentist in West Kelowna can help. Through the implementation of certain dental procedures that put the jaw in a healthy, neutral position, you will experience:

  • Less pain throughout the body
  • Improved posture due to better alignment and less pain
  • Fewer headaches
  • Less fatigue
  • Fewer injuries, like sprains, strains, and fractures (due to balance improvement)
  • Better athletic performance.

Though jaw issues might not seem significant at first, research is continuing to show how closely linked the jaw is with the rest of the body. Therefore, when you get treatment from a West Kelowna dentist, you can rest assured that you’ll be taking steps to improve your overall health, not just your dental health.

Improve Your Posture by Improving Your Bite – How Health & Beauty Dentistry Can Help

Isn’t it amazing to know that by tackling the cause of your jaw pain you can address multiple health issues?

This is why it’s so important to have any jaw, head, or facial pain treated as soon as possible. Fortunately, your West Kelowna dentist can help.

With a series of neuromuscular/physiologic tests, including sonography, electromyography, jaw tracking, 3-D imaging, and a comprehensive exam, your dentist can come up with a definitive diagnosis. Once that has been done, you’ll receive a treatment plan that can include physiologic orthotic therapy, physiologic orthodontia, bite adjustments, physiologic restorations or a combination of treatments.

With some time, you’ll notice you have less pain and tension throughout your entire body. When everything is in proper alignment, you’ll have better posture, less pain, and more energy, all of which will allow you to live a full, happy, and healthy life.

Do you experience jaw pain, fatigue, and headaches? You could have TMJ disorder! Contact the team at Health & Beauty dentistry to find out about possible treatment options.

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blog Holistic Approach to Dentistry Kelowna Dentist Oral Health

A Holistic Approach to Healthcare in Dentistry

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What does ‘holistic’ mean and how does to fit into the healthcare world? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the term ‘holistic’ refers to ‘dealing with or treating the whole of something or someone and not just a part.’ In healthcare, doctors and practitioners can choose to take a more holistic approach to their practice.

As a dentist in Kelowna, BC, I take a holistic and biological approach to treating my patients. As a proud West Kelowna dentist, I work to change people’s lives and not just their appearance. I focus on helping clients live better and more fulfilled lives, which starts with taking smiles and making them better.

What to Expect with a Holistic Dentist Approach

What does a holistic dentist practice look like? The holistic approach to dental care involves examining the tooth meridian as it connects to specific organs in the body. You can compare this to acupuncture medicine, which is centered on the belief that there is a meridian connection in the body and that two different points are always connected.

A biological dentist aims to treat patients in the safest and most natural way possible, while still achieving the successful outcomes that modern dentistry offers. Biological or holistic dentists look after the patient’s entire wellbeing by taking a physiological, whole-body approach to dentistry.

In my practice as a dentist in Kelowna, I implement holistic, homeopathic, and science-based principles into both the diagnosis and treatment of all my patients.


Fluoride-Free Treatments
A holistic dentist will take a fluoride-free approach to dental healthcare. At my office, we are completely fluoride-free.

The International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology has made several preliminary determinations over the last 18 years all concluding that fluoride added to the public water supply delivers no discernible health benefits, and in fact, causes a higher incidence of adverse health effects.

Safe Removal of Amalgam Fillings (SMART)
We became a SMART Certified safe amalgam fillings removal practice because I believe in removing silver fillings in the safest and most effective way possible. SMART stands for Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal Technique – its goals and recommendations strongly align with the holistic dental care goals in my practice.

I believe that the people in my care will be exposed to less risk of adverse health reactions due to mercury exposure from the removal of silver fillings.


Alternative Pain Management
By taking a holistic dentist approach to my medicine and practice, I believe in alternative forms of sedation that are different from the drugs and narcotics most dentists use today. If you are looking for a dentist in Kelowna who believes in alternative pain management, I offer NuCalm technology, which has zero negative side effects. In just four simple steps, NuCalm will soothe your dental anxiety, keep you calm and allow you to face any dental treatment with ease and relaxation.



Collaboration With Other Healthcare Professionals
As part of my approach to patients’ healthcare, I love to collaborate with other healthcare professionals in order to ensure that my patients receive the most holistic approach to their treatment and diagnosis. We refer our clients to local Kelowna and Vernon health providers who we know and trust to bring the most value to our clients.

Local health partners include family doctors, general physicians, physiotherapists, neurologists, surgeons, and orthodontists, to name a few.


Symptoms and Conditions Treated Naturally by Dentists

Because I take a holistic and biological dentist approach at my practice, I treat a wide variety of conditions that might not normally fall under the traditional dentistry umbrella.

In my holistic dentist approach to healthcare, I offer treatments for snoring and sleep apnea including CPAP services, snoring devices, and sleep apnea treatments. Other common general practice offerings we tackle include periodontal disease (gum disease), pain care for TMJ/TMD, jaw pain, headaches, ear pain, migraines, cosmetic teeth makeovers, and dental treatments.

Other Holistic Practitioners

A holistic dentist approach to healthcare is not uncommon. In fact, many facets in the healthcare profession utilize a more biological approach to treating clients. Nutritionists, naturopaths, and chiropractors are just some of the other healthcare professionals who use holistic and biological healthcare as their foundation for diagnosis and treating patients.

I believe that holistic care provides the most successful outcome and the safest way to reach each client’s treatment goals.

If you are ready to find a new dentist in Kelowna who takes a more holistic approach to dental care, call my office or book an appointment today!

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Jaw Pain After Root Canal: What can be done to ease the pain

jaw-pain-west-kelowna

Quite often, people who come into my West Kelowna dentist office experiencing a lot of pain end up needing root canal treatment. They have a cracked or broken tooth or deep decay that has damaged the nerve of the tooth.

To provide the patient with relief, we have to remove the nerve tissue. This procedure can take an hour or more to complete.

While the patient will likely experience relief from tooth pain after treatment, they may find that they have another type of pain: Jaw pain.

What causes jaw pain after root canal treatment?

And what will relieve the pain?

What’s the cause of jaw pain after root canal treatment?

There’s more than one cause of jaw pain after root canal treatment (RCT).

It’s important to remember that there are a lot of factors at play in this type of situation.

For example, a person can have a serious infection – complete with inflammation and swelling – when they’re told they need root canal treatment.

Just because they have the treatment doesn’t mean all of their symptoms are going to automatically disappear.

It’s going to take some time for the swelling and tenderness to go down.

Other factors that could contribute to jaw pain after root canal treatment include the following.

When bottom teeth need dental treatment – including RCT – we have to give the patient an injection called a mandibular block. To adequately numb the tooth, we have to inject the mandibular nerve, which is close to the jaw joint. Tenderness from the injection is common.

The material used to fill the root (once the nerve has been removed) could extend beyond the root tip. If this happens, it can lead to inflammation and pain.
The main cause of pain might’ve been the issue that resulted in an RCT. But there might be other issues at hand as well, like periodontal disease. Gum disease can cause painful inflammation and infection.

Holding your mouth open for such a long period of time can not only cause muscle tension and tenderness – it can cause temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) or TMD. Sometimes, one or both jaw discs can slip after an RCT. This can lead to short- and long-term jaw pain.

How to relieve pain immediately – Steps to take at home

There are some things you can do to reduce the discomfort you feel after having the jaw open widely for a long period of time. Try the following and see if your jaw pain starts to ease up.

  • Rinse with warm salt water a couple of times a day to reduce inflammation.
  • If you’re prescribed antibiotics – take them. They’re needed to clear up the infection.
  • Alternate heat and cold compresses. The heat will relax your muscles, while the cold reduces inflammation.
  • Eat soft foods. Avoid gum and anything that could further strain your jaw.

Any pain post-treatment should be evaluated by a your West Kelowna Dentist

If the jaw pain after root canal treatment is excruciating, you don’t find any relief, or it lasts longer than a few days – contact our dentist office or your dentist.

We want to re-evaluate you for infection and see if the root sustained any damage during the procedure.

Additionally, we want to check for TMD.

Patients who experience jaw pain can find relief through the a custom-made dental orthotic, also called a TMJ dental appliance. The discrete, non-invasive appliance which you can eat, drink, and sleep with can protect your jaw from general strain, as well as that from clenching and grinding. If your TMJ’s are out of alignment because of the jaw pain treatment, this dental appliance can help reposition your jaws to a more optimal position.

Pain after a root canal is not something you have to endure in silence. Call our West Kelowna dentist office if you have any pain post-RCT.

Pain is usually a sign something is wrong – Don’t wait to get help

Typically, we go through life blissfully unaware of the goings-on of our body. That is, of course, until something goes wrong.

That’s when our body raises its alarm systems, which usually means we experience some sort of pain. Pain is a form of communication. It’s like our body yelling at us that something is out of whack and needs attention.

It’s no different with our oral health. We should be aware of our teeth or the soft tissues of our mouth. When we do notice sensitivity, discomfort, or pain, it’s usually an indicator of a problem.

If you experience any sort of dental pain, I highly recommend you come into my West Kelowna dentist office. We can look at your symptoms and find the cause of the problem. And whether it’s a minor issue or a more serious one – we can find a treatment that can reduce or eliminate your symptoms.

Have you been experiencing dental pain? If so, please contact my office ASAP. My team and I will evaluate your dental health and work hard to help you find quick relief.