Dental Blog

Understanding the Sources of Head, Neck and Facial Pain

Head, neck, and facial pain is one of the most complicated and confusing areas in medicine today for several very good reasons:

1. There  are so many real causes of head, neck and facial pain that it is often very hard to determine the correct cause of the problem.

Just a few legitimate causes of head, neck or facial pain include infections of the cars, throat, sinuses, eyes, teeth, and gums. In addition, it includes infections and cysts of wisdom teeth, tumors of the head and neck structures, including the muscles, bones, and internal organs. Also arthritis of the jaw joints. Also it includes fibromyalgia, trigeminal neuralgia, bells palsy, multiple sclerosis, temporal arteritis, glossopharyngeal neuralgia, and diseases of the salivary glands. Other causes include neurologic diseases of the head and neck, neuralgia, neuritis, true migraine or sinus headaches, and problems of the spine or vertebral column. Also, trauma such as a blow to the head or a whip lash injury from a fall or a motor vehicle accident. Even psychosomatic symptoms and referred pain. And, last to mention, but certainly not least important, Temporomandibular disorders, specifically muscle and joint pain that can be proven to be caused by a conflict between the teeth and the jaw joints.

2. Because there are so many medical specialists trained to treat these problems, and they are, by the nature of their training, usually unable to diagnose problems outside their field of expertise.

Medical people who may be consulted by patients with head, neck or facial pain include family doctors, ear, nose, and throat doctors, neurologists, orthopedic doctors, oral surgeons, general dentists, physical therapists, chiropractors, naturopathic doctors, homeopathic doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and doctors who specialize in treating pain.

3. Most medical doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, and even dentists are not trained in diagnosing, much less treating bite problems that cause TMJ pain.

It simply is not included in the curriculum of medical and even most dental schools because it can be so tricky to diagnose and treat effectively. However, there are many well trained dentists who can easily diagnose and treat the problem. You just need to seek them out.

4. Until now, there was no fast, easy and inexpensive way to prove that the pain was in fast due to a conflict between the teeth and the jaws joints.

Dr. Simon’s revolutionary Best Bite Discluder, can quickly and easily, prove that the pain is, or is not, due to your bite, and get you out of pain in less than five minutes.

75% of ALL head, neck or facial pain is from muscles caused by bite problems. Dr Simon’s patented, FDA accepted Best-Bite device can determine the cause of your pain. Regardless of who you have seen and what you have been told, in less than 10 minutes you can find out if we can help by stopping the pain with no drugs or surgery.

5.  Possibly most important, the person who makes the first diagnosis is the patient.

They then decide to take their problem to the doctor that specializes in the treatment of the problem they think they have. If incorrect, they enter the medical maze at the wrong point and go from doctor to doctor winding up with frustration, continuing pain, a list of incorrect diagnosis and often a medicine cabinet full of pills that may help the symptoms, but don’t solve the problem. Unfortunately, the person with the pain, often doesn’t know about TMJ pain, and so they don’t seek out the only person who would help them, a dentist trained in treating TMJ pain.

TMJ pain has been called medicine/dentistry’s great imposter because it can be confused with so many other disorders. No one even knows how often TMJ pain occurs because it is so frequently over looked. If you have head, neck or facial pain, take some time to learn about TMJ pain.