Frequent Headaches? The Cause May Be in Your Mouth

Headache and other head-pain symptoms may result from force imbalances that affect blood vessels, muscles, and nerves in the head, face, and neck areas.

The trigeminal nucleus is the part of your nervous system that tells your brain to sense head pain.

Many headaches are actually the result of a common neuromuscular dental disorder called TMJ, also known as TMD. TMJ refers to any number of disorders that cause the jaw to misalign, resulting in painful symptoms such as chronic headaches. Similar to migraines in severity and duration, headaches related to TMJ are actually caused by pressure placed on the trigeminal nerve by muscles tensed by jaw misalignment.

This nerve is responsible for nearly all sensation in the face and head, and may also produce symptoms such as nasal pressure and pain, pain behind the eyes, ear pain and ringing, and neck, shoulder and back pain.

Several pain symptoms, including:

• Clenching and grinding of the teeth

• Dental wear and tooth breakage

• Clicking and popping of the jaw

• Discomfort in the neck or jaw

• Ringing in the ears

• Facial pain

Types of Headache Pain

• The most common type of headache is called a tension headache. It causes a band of pain around the top and both sides of the head and neck. They result from tightening of the head, neck, and facial muscles.

• Inflammatory headaches are due to inflammation or swelling.

• Traction headaches are caused when pain-sensitive parts of the head, neck, or face are pulled, stretched, or displaced. The incident that caused the displacement, like whiplash or an eye-strain, may not be significant enough to remember.

• Vascular headache pain, also known as a migraine or cluster headache, causes severe pain, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, dizziness, and vision impairment.

Causes of Head Pain

Head, Neck, or Body Trauma

Sports injuries, accidents, or a simple bump on the head could affect the force balances within your mouth. These incidents could have happened yesterday or many years ago. The trauma could potentially stretch or tear ligaments causing dental imbalances and head pain.

Dental Treatments

Aged restorative material, poor adaptation to dental work, wisdom tooth extraction, and other dental treatments can also cause headache symptoms.

• Restorative dentistry services to re-positioning the bite

• Orthodontics to realign the teeth

• A custom orthodontic device to retrain jaw muscles

In some instances, medications for muscle relaxation or pain relief will be needed to assist with the beginning stages of treatment. Relaxation techniques and physical therapy may also be needed to fully relax the jaw muscles and restore proper alignment.

Lifestyle

Increased stress, lack of exercise, and poor diet can result in many headache pain symptoms. Poor posture due to excessive sitting may also lead to headaches.

Age and Wear

As the body ages, so does your bite. Since teeth and the components of dental restorations (both metal and composite) age at different rates, changes in your bite over time can cause improper teeth alignment and disrupt the force balance.

If you have experienced any of the causes listed above and have head pain, contact our Dental Clinic at the earliest.