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Many people suffer from pain in the jaw when chewing, when opening, or when waking in the morning. It is important to find
out what is causing the pain, and then correct it.
At the Center, I will examine your dental occlusion, the way you open and close your mouth, and where you put your tongue.
We will look at the hinge and gliding action of the temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ) and see how easily you are moving there,
and measure the opening and sideways translation of the teeth.
Then I will examine the muscles to see what is strong or weak, and treat the trigger points both inside and outside of
the mouth. Relief often occurs immediately, and the irritating clicking noise may be abated.
You will learn how to correctly open and your mouth, and be given exercises to practice this. Correct placement of the
tongue on the roof of the mouth may take longer to learn. Based on the principles of Myofunctional Therapy, you will practice
exercises to retrain the swallow so that you put your tongue in the right spot, so that all the orofacial muscles work together
in synchrony.This may take a couple of months to learn, but is well worth it. Learning to swallow properly is essential to
keeping your teeth in their right place, in reducing muscle pain, and in developing language skills.
If you nursed on a bottle your muscles developed in a circular pattern. When breastfeeding, your lips flatten and the
tongue draws the nipple to the roof of the mouth. This has far-reaching implications in learning to speak and pronounce words,
and in using the tongue correctly.
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