The Chiropractic-Dental Connection

In learning more about dentistry and the connections to structural alignment, nutritional balance, and disease, the chiropractor plays a vital role in filling a void in health care
Andrea H. Brockman, BSN, DDS

Dentistry has an air of mystery for most people including physicians and chiropractors. Diagnosis and treatment of dental conditions require specialized equipment, materials, and expertise generally relegated to the dental profession. But the health consequences of dental treatment and oral health that reverberate throughout the body should not be an enigma. And chiropractors having a better understanding of structure and nutrition are in a unique position to evaluate and adjust dental imbalances that occur in almost everyone.

Include in Your Patient’s Health Assessment an Evaluation of Their Oral Condition

In order to evaluate a dental condition, you must first know what you are looking for and ask pertinent questions. You need to find out if your patients have had dental work (fillings, crowns, implants, dentures, braces, extractions, periodontal surgery, root canals, or mouth appliances). Do they grind or clench their teeth? Do they have oral pain, jaw tiredness, bad taste, or swellings? Was there any history of  trauma to the face, jaws, or teeth?

In your treatment room, have a box of gloves and a light source so you can visually inspect the mouths of your patients. While you may not be able to detect dental caries, it’s not hard to recognize silver-colored amalgam fillings (50% mercury mixed with silver, copper, tin, and zinc), broken teeth, missing teeth, orthodontic braces, mouth appliances, and dentures. Looking carefully you may see crowns, bridges, bonding, worn teeth, narrow palate, calculus, puffy or receding gums, soft tissue swellings, discolorations, or lesions. But what does all that mean?

Get to the Root of Your Patient’s Health Problems and Concerns

Whether a patient presents with pain, systemic complaints, low energy, or wants to improve sports performance, pregnancy health, or vitality... assess their dental condition.

Not only are dental stressors pervasive and virtually ignored, they contribute to a torrent of symptoms that ebb and flow depending on the patient’s immune system, stress level, and reserves. Here are some dental-health connections.

• Bite and jaw discrepancies are major factors in headaches, musculo-skeletal problems, and sleep disorders. You may see evidence in the mouth such as:

o Worn down cusps or incisal edges of teeth
o Notches in the enamel at the gumline
o Cracked teeth, fractured fillings, missing porcelain on crowns
o Multiple gumline fillings
o Missing teeth
o Tooth crowding
o Orthodontic treatment
o New dental restorations

• When you come across patients with allergies, chronic fatigue, infertility, memory loss, tinnitus, neurological symptoms, arthritis, and other chronic conditions... think heavy metals from dental materials. Look for:

o Mercury amalgam fillings
o Mixed metals (gold crowns, amalgams, stainless steel crowns, titanium implants, palladium partial denture frameworks, nickel-titanium orthodontic brackets and wires)
o Prescribe a Biocompatibility Blood Test (Contact drb@oramedica.com for information on how to obtain free diagnostic kits to give to your patients)

• Periodontal disease can be a risk factor for heart attack, stroke, pre-term births, pneumonia, and diabetic complications. Look for:

o Puffy, bleeding gums
o Heavy plaque and/or calculus
o Receding gums
o Root exposure
o Mobile teeth
o Spaces developing between teeth

• Nutrition may suffer because of ineffective chewing. Ask:

o Oral pain
o New dental work
o Orthodontic treatment
o Dry mouth
o Missing teeth
o Loose teeth
o Oral lesions

• Dead teeth and poor jawbone circulation impact the immune system and affect the ability to heal from any condition. Patients may be unaware of infection as pain is usually absent and dental x-rays cannot always reveal lesions. Testing the patient with the occipital drop can help with diagnosing a hidden dental infection.

The Occipital Drop and Dental Diagnosis

The occipital drop technique can help you verify suspected dental conditions that contribute to the patient’s imbalance. The following list can guide you with your determinations. Ask:

• Is there a dental issue?

o Oral Infection (Will need referral to dentist, nutritional evaluation,)

 Gum
 Tooth
 Jaw Bone (Cavitation)
 TMJ

o Tooth Nerve  (Will need referral to dentist, acupuncture meridian)

 Pulpitis (Inflamed, hypersensitive)
 Dying
 Necrotic (dead)
 Infected root canal treated

o Dental Materials (Will need Biocompatibility Blood Test)

 Mercury
 Allergy to Dental Materials (fillings, implants, crowns, cements, dentures)

o Structural

 TMJ Problem
 Grinding Teeth
 Biting Problem  (test with mouth open and closed)
 Broken Filling
 Cracked Tooth
 High filling

• Narrow the tooth problem to:

o Upper Arch
o Lower Arch
o Right Side
o Left Side
o Front Teeth
o Back Teeth
o Individual tooth (Caries, Nerve problem, Bite Problem, Dental Material Problem)

Identify Chiropractic Solutions for Oral Problems

Every patient should have a chiropractic adjustment following dental treatment. Cranial distortions result from a change in bite that torque the sphenoid bone and distort the temporal bones.
 

Top and Bottom Alterations

The teeth in the mandible occlude with precision to the teeth in the maxilla. Therefore dental treatment to any tooth directly or indirectly affects the maxilla. The maxilla attaches to the sphenoid bone which in turn connects to every other skull bone. Check the sphenoid bone.

Right to Left Alterations

The upper jaw (maxilla) is stationary. The movable lower jaw (mandible) is the only bone in the body that has two joints moving independently and in the same direction. What is done to one side must affect the opposite side. Check the temporal bones, both TMJs, and then the other cranial bones.

Work With the Dentists

In learning more about dentistry and the connections to structural alignment, nutritional balance, and disease, the chiropractor plays a vital role in filling a void in health care. The relationships created with the dentists will deliver a well rounded approach to patient care as well as increase referrals and patient appointments.

About Dr. Brockman

Dr. Andrea Brockman is President of OraMedica International, LLC; a company dedicated to educating the public, health professionals, and employees about the dental connections to chronic disease, pain, obesity, stress, and pregnancy complications. As a consultant to alternative and complimentary health providers, she helps to build stronger authentic practices through cross-professional and internal marketing strategies. See http://www.oramedica.com to obtain free literature for your patients.

Dr. Brockman and her husband, Dr. Vincent DiLorenzo both former Biological Dentists value the ability to pay for health-promoting services such as dentistry, acupuncture, and chiropractic care. In response to the lack of traditional health insurance coverage for these services and continually increasing health insurance premiums, they founded T-Horizons, LLC; a nationwide brokerage firm specializing in cost-containing Health Savings Account-compatible health insurance plans for individuals, small businesses, and health practitioners. View information about Health Savings Accounts at http://www.oramedica.com/hsacctinfo.html

Copyright © 2008 OraMedica International, LLC, Dr. Andrea Brockman, All Rights Reserved

Andrea Brockman BSN, DDS