Neuromuscular Dentistry

When you think about your dental health, chances are you focus primarily on the appearance and function of your teeth. However, a comprehensive dentist who is trained in the science of neuromuscular dentistry knows that optimal oral health also involves the correct alignment of your jaw joints – specifically, the temporomandibular joints (TMJ).

Neuromuscular Dentistry Education

Your ability to eat, chew, and speak is due to the collaborative process between your jaw joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. If your joints are not properly aligned, the rest of these tissues are thrown out of order, resulting in a common condition called temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD). This condition can not only threaten your dental health by throwing your bite out of alignment, it can also cause a wide range of symptoms throughout your entire body, including:

• Tension headaches
• Jaw clicking and popping
• Loose teeth
• Back, neck, and shoulder pain
• Earaches
• Numbness and tingling in the limbs

Dr. Miyake has received extensive training in the diagnosis and treatment of TMD at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI), an institution that is respected for its progressive education and research efforts in the field of neuromuscular dentistry. If there are any neuromuscular issues affecting your health, Dr. Miyake and his team can address them through a variety of treatments, ranging custom oral appliances to simple lifestyle changes and jaw exercises.

Treating TMD / TMJ Issues

Dr. Miyake’s goal with TMD/TMJ treatment is to return the jaw to its optimal rest position to resolve the stress that is causing your symptoms. During the diagnosis and treatment process, we use a Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation (TENS) Unit to improve blood flow and relax the jaw through electrical stimulation. We also use the state-of-the-art Myotronics K-7 evaluation unit, which uses electromyography to measure the jaw muscles’ electrical activity, and sonography, a measuring tool for jaw joint sounds. All of this information is used to pinpoint the functional problems of your jaw and find it ideal positions.

Let us share with you the importance of neuromuscular dentistry and explain how choosing a general dentist who is skilled in TMD/TMJ care can benefit you. Please contact our Fresno dentistry team today to schedule your free personal consultation.