Dental News - Dental occlusion/ temporomandibular joint and general body health

Drs Yong-Keun Lee & Hyung-Joo Moon, South Korea

Wed. 15. February 2012

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During the treatment of symptoms originating from disorders of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and occlusion, it was found that restoring the TMJ to its normal condition resulted in a change of general body health. In most cases, this change was for the better. Owing to similar reports, a connection between TMJ status and general body health was therefore hypothesised. However, the mechanism of this relationship remains unclear.

In this article, the relationships between dental occlusion/TMJ status and general body health are reviewed with reference to peer-reviewed papers. A conceptual theory is proposed that may explain this mechanism.

TMJ and myofascial pain
Dental occlusion is the relationship between the maxillary and mandibular teeth when they approach each other.¹ The TMJ is the joint of the jaw, which is unique in that it is the only bilateral joint that crosses the midline.² As the treatment of dental diseases aims to achieve harmony within the entire stomatognathic system, teeth could be literally considered to be a set of gears anchored in bone, while the upper and lower jaws are attached to each other by the TMJ.³

The causes of TMJ disorders can be divided into five categories: dental, trauma, lifestyle habits, stressful social situations and emotional factors.⁴ Trauma can be in the form of whiplash, traction appliances and blows to the head, face or jaw.⁴ Evidence of significant trauma to the TMJ has also been found following hyperextension of the cervical spine.⁵ With regard to habits, bad posture, bad ergonomics at work, oral and childhood habits, as well as poor diet and strenuous activities such as heavy lifting, have been cited.⁴

Myofascial pain, deriving from the hyperalgesic trigger points located in skeletal muscle and fascia, is commonly characterised by persistent regional pain.⁶ The myofascial component has generally been considered to be part of pain syndromes that involve TMJ. Trigger points in masticatory muscles are presumably caused by malocclusion, misalignment and habitual para-function of the jaws, abnormal head and neck postures, or trauma.⁶

Page 1 TMJ and myofascial pain

Page 2 Relationship between TMJ and general body health

Page 3 Mechanism based on qi and the meridian aspect

Page 4 Correlation between trigger points and acupuncture points

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