If you’re unhappy with your smile, it’s likely that your dentist can fix it. But before you go with the quick fix, you should consider why your smile is not the way you want it to be. 

Drs. John and Michael Bixby set up the state-of-the-art Atlantic Center for Advanced Dentistry in Little Silver as an aesthetic dental practice, but soon learned that there was much more to perfecting a smile than simply whitening and straightening teeth.

Neuromuscular dentistry is a modern strand of dental practice that aims for both health and beauty. Drs. John and Mike Bixby are leading practitioners in the emerging field of neuromuscular dentistry, which looks at how your smile is affected by the alignment of the muscles in your head and neck.  By examining your bite position, they often identify symptoms like headaches, which are often directly related to improper muscular alignment.  So before your grab another pain reliever from the medicine cabinet to ward off a headache, be sure to check with your dentist. 

Headaches, said Dr. Mike Bixby, are the number one pain problem in the United States, and many of them are caused by having a bad bite.  An estimated 80 percent of all headaches are tension type, which originate in the muscles of the forehead. Those same muscles play an important role in the movements and posturing of the jaw.

"If your bite is not right, it can lead to abnormal strain in these muscles, which can result in a tension-type headache," said Bixby.

One of Dr. Bixby’s recent patients was suffering from sore jaw muscles and neck pain and was struggling to identify what was causing this discomfort.  The pain was affecting their sleep, work and even chewing and swallowing. It wasn't until the patient mentioned it in passing at Dr. Bixby’s office during a routine checkup that he received help.

Dr. Bixby conducted a neuromuscular work-up to assess the patient’s bite and he was surprised to learn of the connection between his jaw muscles and the pain he was feeling.  Dr. Bixby explained that a dentist can identify physical symptoms (such as unexpected tooth-wearing) in a regular dental check-up. “If we see this, we ask probing questions and often find that the patient has related symptoms, although he or she may never have connected them with their teeth.”

Common symptoms are headaches, soreness in the neck, shoulders or back, sinus problems, ear aches, worn, cracked or chipped teeth.  Patients can also develop TMJ, which is short for temporomandibular joint syndrome - a condition characterized by headaches, neck pain, dizziness, congestion and ringing in the ears, facial pain, tingling in the fingertips, jaw pain, clicking/popping of the jaw-joint, difficulty swallowing, snoring and even sleep apnea.  

A special computer is used to determine the proper positioning of the jaw.  By using this instrumentation, neuromuscular dentists like Dr. Bixby can reestablish a person's bite so the muscles that control jaw position are the most comfortable for optimal health and function.

"This technology has revolutionized the way we treat pain and conditions like TMJ”, said Dr. Bixby.   While dentistry has always focused on teeth, the effects of muscle forces on your bite is now widely recognized. 

Treatment Options

Correcting a misaligned bite may be as easy as raising or lowering the teeth to achieve a comfortable position.  By fitting the teeth with dental restorations, Drs. Bixby can precisely adjust the bite to create.  In some cases, the patient will be fitted with a removable orthotic to gradually, comfortably and safely shift the position of teeth to an optimal position.  Once the patient is comfortable with this corrected jaw position, the teeth can then be restored with porcelain restorations.

Learn more about neuromuscular dentistry by consulting Drs. Bixby by visiting www.DrBixby.com or by calling 732-889-1067. The Atlantic Center for Advanced Dentistry is located at 160 White Road in Little Silver