DO you suffer from frequent headaches, migraines, jaw pain, neck pain, sinus pain or tinnitus?
At last, there is finally an effective way to not only treat but to prevent these headaches, jaw pain and sinus pain from taking place! This is called the NTI appliance.
In clinical trials, 82% of medically diagnosed migraine patients had a 77% reduction in migraine episodes within the first eight weeks of use!
Here's how it works:
While migraines, tension headaches, tinnitus, teeth grinding/clenching and TMJ/TMD problems are all apparently separate and unrelated conditions, they can all bring misery to the people who suffer from them. Now, science is discovering that there is a common culprit for many cases of these and other conditions: Bruxism (grinding of the teeth) and its effect on the Tigeminal Nerve System.
Bruxism
For years, dentists have been noting that many of their patients grind their teeth and have recommended nightguards (bite splints) to prevent excessive tooth wear. It was previously thought that only a small percentage of people grind their teeth. However, recent studies now show that virtually 100 percent of us grind our teeth, often noticeable even in childhood!
In addition, the treatment of bruxism centered mainly on preventing dental wear or in some cases in treating pain in the jaw joints (often called TMD or TMJ). Recent studies now link bruxism to a much larger series of issues, including TMD, headaches, migraines, sinus pain, neck and shoulder pain and tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
Trigeminal Nerve System
The trigeminal nerve system is responsible for interpreting sensory input from your head and neck, behind your eyes and your upper and lower jaw. All of these nerves feed into one central nerve cluster – the Trigeminal Sensory Nucleus. When the trigeminal nucleus is bombarded with negative signals (generally from the extreme muscle overactivity due to clenching, grinding or sleep apnea), the nerve center can become hypersensitized. Now, even normal stimuli (called Triggers) can result in the release of chemicals that trigger migraines and other headache phenomena, including sinus headaches, and tension headaches!!
Common triggers include: stress, bright lights, certain sounds, changes in air pressure (usually due to weather), hormonal changes (e.g. menstrual cycle), and various foods.
Treatment of migraines and headache phenomena has basically taken two approaches: 1) Medications -Usually involves symptomatic treatment with medications (such as Imitrex or other pain medications, high blood pressure medications). Medications can be effective for some individuals, but often can cause numerous undesirable side-effects.
2) NTI splint therapy - decreases input to the Trigeminal Nucleus, thereby allowing it to return to normal function. Previous triggers (normal stimuli) no longer cause the release of chemicals from the Trigemal nucleus, greatly decreasing the frequency, intensity and duration of headaches.
The NTI device
The NTI has several key features that allow it to work where traditional nightguards (bite splints) have failed:
-
It sits on the front teeth only
-
It allows smooth movements of the lower jaw during grinding so that it can never lock into one position
-
No matter how the jaws move, only the front teeth can touch
Benefits of these design features include:
- It is remarkably small and comfortable, and MUCH easier to get used to than a traditional full nightguard!!
- The amount of stress put on the muscles of the nead and neck is dramatically decreased
- Input to the Trigeminal nucleus is dramatically reduced!
If you’d like to know more about the NTI device or whether it may help you with any conditions you may suffer from such as migraines, schedule a FREE consultation with Dr. Sonne or Dr. Shapiro.