Teeth Grinding Archives - Cosmetic Dentistry of Napa

Myofunctional Therapy: Having a Trainer for your Face & Tongue

Myofunctional Therapy includes exercises that are meant to improve the strength of the muscles of the base of the tongue, tonsils, soft palate, and walls of the pharynx

Your oral health is about much more than straight or sparkling teeth. Our office has now begun incorporating orofacial myofunctional therapy and training into our services. In simpler terms, we can act as a personal exercise trainer for your face, tongue, lips and breathing muscles, treating issues such as temporomandibular joint disease (TMJ), obstructive sleep apnea, incorrect swallowing, tongue postures and more with non-invasive techniques.

All of these disorders can cause improper facial development, issues with chewing, swallowing and speech, and eventually lead to dental and orthodontic problems, such as misaligned teeth, gum disease, and tooth grinding. Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMDS) such as tongue tie and mouth breathing, are also highly correlated with sleep breathing issues such as snoring and sleep apnea. A program of targeted myofunctional exercises can avert or prevent permanent damage, particularly in the developing child.

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By Cecil Lamberton

Do You Have Sensitive Teeth?

Woman holding her mouth in pain with the words, Tooth Sensitivity.

Ouch! An aching tooth can be excruciating, but it may not mean you have a cavity. If hot or cold foods – iced or steaming tea, for two examples – cause sharp pain in a tooth, or if you experience pain when you floss, you may have what dentists call “sensitive teeth.”

You may think of teeth as being composed just of hard enamel. But underneath the thin enamel layer is dentin, a softer substance made up of microscopic tubules, like tiny tunnels. These tubules connect with your tooth nerves. If the dentin becomes exposed, hot, cold and acidic foods may reach a nerve and cause pain.

What causes dentin to become exposed? Tooth enamel can be worn down over time or gum disease – gingivitis or periodontitis – can cause the gums to pull away from the teeth and reveal the roots.

When you experience aching teeth, your first step is to see your dentist to determine if your pain is the result of decay. If it is, dental treatment may take care of it. If it isn’t, there are several steps you can take to reduce the pain. Many of them you can do on your own.

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By Cecil Lamberton

Sleep Apnea: The Surprise Culprit In Bruxism and TMJ Disorders

New research may be changing the focus of treatment for sufferers of bruxism (grinding teeth), TMD (temporomandibular disorders of jaw muscles, joints and/or nerves) or occlusion issues.

Traditionally, dentists have treated these disorders with mechanical devices such as night guards. These devices are effective in minimizing damage, but they do not address the causes of the behavior.

Now, several studies reveal these problems may be triggered by sleep apnea, a disorder characterized by frequent, brief breathing pauses during sleep.

Some disruption in sleep patterns is normal, but individuals with apnea may stop breathing hundreds of times a night. These microarousals can be caused by medical issues such as an airway blockage or significant increase of acid in the esophagus (obstructive sleep apnea), the brain’s failure to signal the muscles to breathe (central sleep apnea) or both (mixed sleep apnea).

People who have sleep apnea often don’t know it because they don’t awaken during the breathing pauses. They attribute the common symptoms – loud snoring, restless sleep and daytime fatigue – to other origins.

The American Sleep Apnea Association website (http://www.SleepApnea.org) offers screening questionnaires that can help you determine whether you should talk to your health professional.

If are diagnosed with sleep apnea, you have a lot of company. The Sleep Apnea Association reports that more than 18 million Americans suffer from this disorder. Men, especially African American and Hispanic men, are more than twice as likely as women to be afflicted.

Although anyone, even children, can have sleep apnea, there are factors that increase your risk. According to the Mayo Clinic, some of these are obesity, being older than 60, using alcohol or tranquilizers, smoking, difficulty breathing through your nose, or a heart problem, stroke or brain tumor.

Sleep apnea is serious. WebMD lists these seven possible consequences of untreated sleep apnea: high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, weight gain, adult asthma, acid reflux and car accidents caused by drowsiness.

The most common and most reliable method of treating sleep apnea is with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. This device keeps your air passages open by delivering greater air pressure through a mask placed over your nose while you sleep. It can feel cumbersome or uncomfortable at first, but most people do get used to it, and it does offer tremendous relief, as many testimonials reveal. Other treatment options include different airway pressure devices, surgery, jaw repositioning and supplemental oxygen.

You can help yourself, too, by quitting smoking, losing weight and abstaining from alcohol before sleep.

If you have bruxism, TMD or occlusion, this recent information correlating them with sleep apnea may suggest a new approach to your treatment. Resolving your sleep apnea also may resolve, or improve, your dental disorders. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Myofunctional Therapy: Having a Trainer for your Face & Tongue

Do You Have Sensitive Teeth?

Sleep Apnea: The Surprise Culprit In Bruxism and TMJ Disorders

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