Sorry, I'm resending my e-mail as it had some "editing problems":
Lloyd:>Students who have studied with me and have TMJ problems have, invariably, found their greatest relief by seeing a good dentist. Most of the causes of TMJ stem from poor or incorrect occlusion of the teeth which is not caused by a particular method of singing nor of keeping the jaw relaxed. When the manner in which the teeth meet (occlusion) is corrected most forms of TMJ are corrected or minimized. The corrective procedures that I have observed with my students have ranged from the minor correction of occlusion by having the surfaces of some teeth corrected by the dentist, to the wearing of an appliance at night, to a complete restructuring of tooth alignment.<
I have that problem and I kind of became an expert. I went to 3 orthodontists. Each gave me a different explanation/ solution. My search has given me the widest perspective an "amateur" can have on that subject, I believe.
The first one I saw is the most expensive around. 9 out of 10 Brazilian rich and famous trust him with their teeth. He wanted to correct my occlusion as described by Lloyd above. Estimation: US$6,000.00!!!!!!! Caio, poor and INfamous, went back to his dentist, who happens to be an orthodontist too.
He said that what the famous guy wanted to do was an absurd, that he would never prescribe that. All he would do was make me a mouthguard for when I went to sleep. As a university teacher, he could give me a detailed explanation:
Orthodontics is a relatively recent science and, as such, it hasn't developed a consensus on many issues. There are different schools. One of them is the American school, which advocates what Lloyd described above and is followed by the first specialist I saw.
The problem with the American school: if you change the mouth occlusion, you change the whole dynamics of the mouth. As you focus your attention on two teeth that are "having a little private fight" at night, you automatically change the occlusion of the rest of the mouth. Usually, they make that "gypsum model" of your mouth, but even that is not safe, as they can't "test-drive" all the combinations.
For example: they "correct" the occlusion, your jaw starts closing a different way, and then, as a consequence, two other teeth must be "corrected". As you start doing that, it's impossible to predict when and IF you'll be able to stop it. That will keep changing your mouth occlusion, and then your jaw position may change in such a way that you start developing pains much more unbearable than those from the TMJ/TMD problem: the jaw may get in such a position that it starts pressuring those nerves that are right behind them ( forgot their names). That can make your mouth hurt, your head hurt, etc.
Why's that? Because your whole mouth dynamics was CO-developed. Your teeth are the way they are and where they are because of the way you HAVE closed occluded ), opened, used your mouth since you were born. You can't just change two of them while the others rest in peace!
Then I found another orthodontist, from the German school, who gave me another lecture. All he said agreed with what my dentist had told me, but he said there's a way to change it if you change the whole dynamics gradually and "naturally".
There's a German mouthpiece that is used WHILE YOU'RE AWAKE too, during the whole day, and that forces all your mouth, tongue and the swallowing muscles to work in a different way, so as to RESHAPE your teeth AND mouth and re-coordinate the muscles involved. You have to wear it while you're awake because it works with the movements caused by swallowing saliva and, mostly, talking. It's a 24-hour speech therapy.
Based upon his whole lecture ( I talked about it on the list some time ago ), which I'm not reproducing here, I believe that's the best school. The most logical, at least.
Best wishes,
Caio
|
| |