Did you know that your bite and TMJ joint affect your posture? And that posture affects your TMJ and dental health?
Your posture affects your health? Follow me closely here. This is a lengthy but worthy post….
Dr. Weston Price wrote about the degeneration of our health due to processed food lacking minerals and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K. The loss of these nutrients leads to an infant’s poorly formed mouth, crowded dental arches, and a host of future physical (and emotional) issues.
TMJ disorder and an imbalanced bite affect muscles in the neck, back, pelvis and legs. Since the bite is related to the shape and position of your jaw, it influences the position of your head on your spine. This affects your balance and creates the need to structurally compensate down the length of the body.
A chain reaction occurs through the body from the teeth to the feet as our ever-wise bodies twist or splay to compensate for improper dental alignment. The head may jut forward, creating huge stress on the neck, spine, and collarbone. An ear canal may be compressed, causing allergies or drainage issues in your face. One shoulder higher than the other causes stress on the ribs and organs underneath them. And so on down the line.
Quick Tip: If your pant leg lengths are different, or your shoe heels wear unevenly, you have a bite problem!
Keep reading as there’s more great info here…
I have recently found that bunions and scoliosis are also the result of bite misalignment. In my current breakthrough work with a highly specialized TMJ disorder dentist, I am noticing less torque in my hips, and my crowded toes and bunions are starting to correct themselves.
I’m working on the teeth, and my feet are fixing themselves!
Head-forward posture is a progressive ailment. The older you get, the more the head leans and the more stress is placed on your back and neck. With the human head weighing in at about 14 pounds, this creates a massive force pulling against the vertebrae and cranial nerves at the base of your skull.
Cranial nerves manage the body in many ways, so when compressed we can get problems of every possible sort: digestion, snoring, insomnia, migraines, gall bladder troubles, thyroid issues and much more. Neck pain too…
As the head pulls farther forward, the shoulders roll forward, and the jaw is pulled backward. This makes a receeding chin even worse, and further crowds the dental arches, making the bite deteriorate further.
And crowding the airway, causing snoring.
Postural problems are often addressed with physical therapy of some sort. Stretching shortened muscles, learning to move the body in ways that minimize the stress on muscles and joints, etc.
But the fix will neither hold nor correct the health issues until the bite is corrected.
I have two podcasts on this topic (here and here). True bite/TMJ disorder specialists are quite rare, depsite what your regular dentist may say.
Children age 6 and older can wear a corrective nightguard to guide the shaping of the face and jaw and prevent the need for braces and dental extraction.
Young ones can and should be trained NOT to mouth-breathe, suck the thumb, or sleep on their faces. Read the notes and listen to this podcast on Buteyko Breathing for an intro to this, as these habits affect the shape of the jaw.
My health and body are changing rapidly as I am starting to resolve my bite issues (I never knew I had any!) and reshape my face. This is NOT the wearing of an ordinary nightguard, but involves specialized dental appliances with names like ALF, MORA, and FARRAH. This is completely new info to me, and I celebrate what I am discovering! I hope you do too!
Related Articles:
Sleep, Snoring and Airway Disorders
What If It Really IS All In Your Head?
