The Future of Dentistry: Part 3 Insights
Oral Health | 2011by Steven Olmos, DDS, DABCP, DABCDSM, DABDSM, DAAPM, FAAOP, FAACP, FICCMO, FADI, FIAO
We need to evaluate our system of treatment. A patient presents with worn dentition or complaints of muscle soreness. The dentist produces a nightguard without further in vestigation. The result is that the treatment helps the symptom of muscle soreness, makes it worse or has no effect. The dentist is unclear what to do.
Facial muscles are sore because of central nervous system stimulation. Jaw joints break down the result of continued nocturnal parafunctional activity. We bite harder at night due the result of proprioception ascending to the cerebellum and basal ganglia in stead of the cortex where we recognize how hard we are biting. In the daytime proprioception ascends to the cortex where we are conducted a study on one hundred adult bruxers and their relation ship to stress and anticipatory stress measured by EMG. They found: “No overall relationship was established between electromyographic measures and the personality variables nor between electromyographic measures and self-reported stress.”
