The general consensus among comprehensive dentists is that a majority of the population is not in their proper biting position. When people are not in a biting position that is muscularly comfortable position headaches, jaw pain, TMJ, and backaches follow. Think of your head being a bowling ball. It doesn’t weigh that much when it is balanced on the neck and shoulders, but if it is put forward, it starts doubling in weight.
Head pain due to posture
An overworked muscle is going to fatigue over time. The more stress on a muscle, the faster it will fatigue. An example is taking a heavy weight and holding it to your chest versus holding it at arm’s length. The muscles are going to give out a lot faster when the ball is away from the body.
Head position influences the way the teeth come together. If you tilt you head way back and very lightly touch your teeth together, only the back teeth touch. If you bend way forward, only the front touch, and the same with tilting the head left or right.
You can visualize as the head moves forward, the muscles in the front of the neck get tight and tend to pull the jaw down and back. We tend to think of the jaw and teeth as their own entity, but now, you can see that the jaw bone is connected to the neck bone and the neck bone is connected … as the old song says.
Call Dr. Mandy Grimshaw, an LVI fellow for a TMJ consultation at (910) 692-4450.
