More Tension Related Dental Problems Commong Among Women
Teeth chomping and jaws clamped shut. These indicate that the times are testing our patience. Potentially harmful and abnormal movements of the mouth are reflections of tension caused by job insecurity, inflation, identity crises, and the like.
Adults commonly experience a condition known as bruxism, which is characterized by the gnashing of teeth and clenching of jaws while asleep. A common neuromuscular problem nowadays, the clicking of jaw joints causes side effects like headaches, vertigo, and ear pain.
More women, particularly those above 40, are prone to develop bruxism than men, studies have revealed. It looks like it's more common for men to release tension through the stomach while more women release tension through the mouth.
The cure for the problem is not orthodontics because the only way to effect a cure is to deal with the frustrations that cause the tension, but to prevent damage to teeth temporarily, plastic retainers or jaw straps while asleep are advised.
Orthodontists are now seeing bruxism and other dental problems for the first time. The field of orthodontics over the past few years has broadened beyond teeth straightening for the purpose of cosmetics.
New techniques and theories focus on the total facial structure including bone, muscle, jaw, lips and tongue, in addition to teeth.
It turns out that orthodontics is not confined to the dental problems of adolescents, but includes the dental problems experienced by adults too.
According to one dentist, orthodontists need to be especially careful with adults than with children. Children's tissues are more flexible than adults, thus, they bounce back more readily.
Deformities resulting from jaw protrusion and clefts in the lips or palate may be reconstructed by advances in procedures involving a blend of both orthodontics and plastic surgery, he said. More than one half of orthodontic cases have to do with jaw growth, he said. Teeth are in the service of the jaw.
The teeth will follow if the jaw is put at the right place. Corrective appliances may be used so that proper jaw growth is observed, or one may also turn to reconstructive surgery for the underdeveloped jaw.
Orthodontics is not required most of the time, but it does serve as prevention against certain dental diseases. Improper tongue thrust would result from thumb sucking, and this condition could lead to problems in speech and swallowing. The tongue is a very strong muscle and it may alter the position of teeth.
Chinstraps worn outside the mouth which exert upward and downward forces on the lower jaw are also frequently used today to correct malocclusion or abnormal bite. Jaw joint problems, loss of teeth, and bone damage could occur as a result of bad bite.
The bonding of transparent with metal directly for braces and the replacing of heavy metal with lightweight chromium and cobalt for bands have improved dental devices. There is more visual appeal to the wearing of plastic than the wearing of metal, even if the former is not as effective.
The laminagraph, a new radiography apparatus, is being used frequently in the field of orthodontics. This device is capable not only of taking an Xray of the entired dentofacial region in a single shot, but also does this without using much radiation.
Laminagraphy is useful for doing diagnosis, though it will not take the place of individual X rays in identifying tooth decay.
by: John Chambers
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