February @ Oaktree: Jaw/Oral Function & Valentines Day 💕

Subject: February @ Oaktree: Jaw/Oral Function & Valentines Day 💕

February: Jaw/Oral Function, and Valentines Day!

By: Dr Emilie Perras, Downtown Chiropractor

Hello!

This month we want to focus on the jaw and oral function. It's not something we've talked much about clinic-wide but such an important part of our health. We're always learning more, so we wanted to share our newest info 🙂

#1: The jaw...if you don't know my story, I will share it below so scroll down. I've got quite a history of TMJ/jaw issues (and therefore, solutions!)

#2: Infant oral function is a huge area that our pediatric chiropractors work with. This includes nursing, tongue and lip ties and how it effects latch. As kids grow, there are other concerns for oral function. Are your kids or yourselves mouth breathers or nose breathers? Mouth breathing will have an effect on immunity, tonsils, jaw development, teeth alignment, sleep apnea. Once you go down this rabbit hole, it's bigger than we realized! (but again, we have answers!)

Our chiropractors recently learned lots from a local myofunctional therapist. I didn't know what this even was a few years ago. I'll talk about it below when I discuss my jaw saga (and how I plan to prevent this in my kids!)

That is all for now - enjoy the read, share if you know anyone that we can help!

~Dr. Emilie

My TMJ Troubles

By: Dr Emilie Perras, Downtown Chiropractor

(parents with kids near braces time....read on...)

We usually like to write happy stories about our patients and their recoveries and wins. Well in this case, I'm the patient...and not just at Oaktree. I like to look at the bright side and see all the different challenges I've been through as good learning to be a better doctor. I now feel like I can really guide someone with jaw issues in the right direction! Thank goodness I have built a team around me.

First, if you don't know, the jaw joint is called the TMJ (temporo-mandibular joint). It's a hinge joint between the mandible (jaw bone) and the skull. There is a little disc between the bones to help with movement. When you hear a click in the jaw, it is the disc moving, but not how it is meant to.

Several years ago when I got braces (while in chiropractic school) I started having jaw pain. It eventually went away, but I was left with a click almost every time I chewed. 10 years later it came back hard. I'm quite sure it was brought on by stress. It hurt on one side of my jaw and I really felt it radiating into my ear, especially when I was trying to sleep. It also locked a lot.

Healing this has been a 4 step process. I would also like to say that each of these steps CAN be enough to heal the jaw on its own, depending on the situation. I don't want to discourage anyone. Mine just ended up being quite complicated (again, maybe so I can be a better guide on the journey...)

CHIRO

First step, I started getting it adjusted. It helped temporarily. This means it was more than just the joint and nerves. (oh and I'd like to add that often jaw pain is connected to the neck so we always look at both)

MASSAGE

For over a year, I saw a massage therapist every 2 weeks, sometimes weekly! This was someone who specialized in the jaw. The intensity of the pain went down, but still it was temporary relief. I really gave this 100% effort. If it was just muscles, we would've cleared it.

ACUPUNCTURE

I'm embarrassed to say that although I am married to an amazing acupuncturist, we didn't really start working on this for the first 6 months...I think we had other fish to fry in terms of priorities in my acupuncture care. Recently had 3rd baby etc...

It helped a lot and I regretted not doing it sooner. But I still had trouble. Less pain, but I still could not open my jaw wide without locking or wide enough to eat a sandwich, eat an apple or a carrot for example. That is not normal function.

TMJ DENTIST

I went to see a dentist specializes with jaw issues. She did some tests, then sent me for a CT scan of my TMJ, to an allergist, to a sleep apnea study and to an ENT. She was thorough! Turns out I have some degeneration in my joints and my discs in the TMJ are not as healthy as they should be. So what do we do?

She explained to me we had to re-align my jaw and my muscles. Every adjustment, acupuncture and massage I had before would relax everything well, but then as soon as I'd take my first bite and my teeth would touch, I'd be reinforcing the same faulty pattern, undoing everything I just fixed and tightening the muscles wrong again. Think how many times a day we bite!

She made me a special lower teeth retainer (not the same as a mouth guard to protect teeth from grinding). It essentially placed my jaw in a way that when I put my teeth together, the muscles were at maximum resting state. I had to wear it all the time, even when I would eat, which was very awkward and difficult. I had it full time for 6 months. I continued also with chiro, massage and acupuncture. It worked!

5 years later I still wear it to bed, but I haven't had pain in years (just here and there). Unfortunately, the only thing I have never been able to get rid of is that my jaw locks when I yawn. I am hypermobile and the doc said this is going to stay. We got it to the best we could and I am very satisfied.

So then my question is: how did this start? I had braces in my 20s and they removed 4 teeth (plus I had 4 wisdom teeth out as a teen). This actually makes the mouth smaller and there's less room for the tongue (which doesn't change size). This can effect breathing and jaw movement. I'm not sure if it's connected, but at some point I became a mouth breather. These days orthodontists mostly expand the palate because they know pulling teeth is not the answer. I am very careful and have done a lot of research now to avoid anything close to this happening to

It was a long story, but I hope this helps you in your journey or in preventing such a journey 🙂

Bonus: Click below for some Jaw Exercises, courtesy of Oaktree!

Jaw Exercises

CLINIC CLOSURES

All Clinics Closed

FEBRUARY 19th

For Family Day

~ No other clinic closures in February ~

Optimal Oral Function

By Dr. Katrina Greer, Orleans Chiropractor

Do you snore? Have sinus infections? Allergies? Jaw clenching?

Did you know, that all of these conditions have links to your oral functioning? While symptoms can vary between people, there are developmental factors that increase the risk of developing these conditions. With the right tools, there is a lot that can be done to manage and prevent these conditions, starting as early as infancy.

During pregnancy and delivery, the shape of baby’s skull (cranium) begins to form. Baby’s position in-utero and the type of delivery mom experiences, can lead to torticollis (head rotation preference), plagiocephaly (flat head) and other conditions. One cranial bone in particular, the sphenoid, is situated on either side of the skull, behind your eyes. These two bones come together to form the hard palate at the top of your mouth.

Ok, enough anatomy, what does this mean?

The way a baby moves, how their reflexes develop, and how or whether they breastfeed will influence this hard palate. The shape and position of the head can influence the hard palate, and the regular movement of their tongue will further shape it over time. When a baby experiences reflux, gagging, a clicking sound when feeding or nurses in a way that is painful for mom, it is a sign of an intraoral problem. A high palate can lead to the trapping of gas that baby swallows, a tongue tie could require them to chomp to latch, or a restricted cranium can influence jaw position and cause issues feeding. Further, a high palate will begin to affect the sinuses sitting right above.

With proper feeding mechanics and tongue function, there is improved nasal breathing and proper development of the muscles in the jaw and face. The jaw will follow how a baby sucks, and posture will go on to follow the jaw. It is really all connected! Certain pacifiers and sippy cups can negatively impact tongue function, so there are a lot of lifestyle factors and small changes that can have a large impact. We recommend the Ninni pacifier at our clinics.

When nasal breathing is not possible, many young kids become mouth breathers and assume a forward head posture to open the airway. As you can see, there are many points that health care providers can intervene and provide support, such as, a tongue tie release, lactation consulting, exercises, and chiropractic adjustments to correct head position and alignment.

When issues such as mouth breathing, forward head posture, or a high palate are not addressed early, it can lead to further problems with the jaw and dental malocclusion as we age. Changing diets over the years and underdeveloped jaws have led to narrow palates and not enough room inside the mouth. Teeth can be removed, appliances and braces worn, but if you’ve experienced these interventions yourself, you’ll know that it doesn’t address the underlying cause. While these procedures may correct the aesthetics, it does little to improve your health. Mouth breathing can affect the teeth themselves, leading to cavities, and jaw tension influences grinding of the teeth (bruxism), leading to further damage.

Proper nasal breathing humidifies the air that we breathe, while mouth breathing leads to dryness, increasing the risk of infection. Restricted nasal passages can lead to sinus infection, allergies and inflammation. As an adult, conditions such as snoring and sleep apnea are influenced by breathing and forward head posture. So, what can you do?

Regular chiropractic care can address problems early, and finding a functional airway dentist can benefit yourself and your family. Most holistic dentists who perform palate expansion or frenectomies (tongue tie releases), will also recommend working with a body work practitioner. This can include chiropractors, osteopaths, massage therapists or myofunctional therapists to provide exercises. Chiropractors can also correct forward head posture, while acupuncture can address muscle tension and stress.

If you any questions about who to see in the Ottawa area, please ask your practitioner at any of our 3 locations!

-Dr. Katrina Greer

Tongue Tied by Richard Baxter

How a tiny string under the tongue impacts nursing, speech, feeding and more.

The topic of "tongue ties" in babies (and in kids and adults) is much more prevalent these days. It isn't something I had heard about when my babies were young. Interestingly, there is a very long history of tongue tie releases. Way back in the 1600s, midwives would keep one nail sharp to cut it right away if it was seen. They knew if babies couldn't eat, the effects were very serious.

Tongue ties, or other tethered oral tissue can greatly effect nursing, leading to difficulties like reflux, colic, gas, fussy baby and more. What I wanted to learn more about are the long term effects - like picky eating, pronunciation, stuttering, airway, dental issues, tightness in the body and more. A chiropractor on my team a few years back had a tongue tie release done at age 50 and had amazing results in relaxing ongoing body tightness. It opened my eyes and helped spur me on the journey to learn more.

If you're interested, I bought it and am happy to lend it to any patients. Just ask reception and we'll pass it around 🙂

Myo Munchee 101

By: Clara Mackinnon, Downtown Chiropractic Intern

What is the Myo Munchee?

The Myo Munchee is a small chewing device made of soft, medical grade silicone. This is like a mouthguard, but used to prevent the potential use of palate spreaders, braces, mouth guards, and other oral procedures. This device is also used to exercise the muscles of the jaw and face. Just like any other muscle in your body, your facial and jaw muscles need the right kind of exercise and movement to stay healthy. Research has demonstrated that the western industrialized lifestyle has led us to eat softer foods, which means we chew less and there is less development of proper oral function and oral health.

The Myo Munchee can be used as early as 6 months old. The smallest size fits ages 6-18 months. This can help with overall oral tone, preventing mouth breathing, exercising the oral musculature and as a teething tool. The benefits of this device don’t stop there! The Myo Munchee has 4 additional sizes to accompany the child throughout all stages of development, all the way through adulthood.

How to use a Myo Munchee on your 6-18 month old?

When you put the device in their mouth, hold their hands and do a few claps to avoid the baby from pulling it out right away.
They won’t be able to hold it for long as the beginning stages, however, they are able to hold it in!
Start with your baby playing with the device in their mouth for a few seconds, to a few minutes. It is recommended to work up to using the Myo Munchee for 5 minutes, twice a day. As your child gets older, this will become easier to do.
It is important to shift the baby from a suck to a chew during this age development. Therefore, it is equally as important to make the switch from a soother to the Myo Munchee at this age because a soother will promote sucking when we want more chewing to happen.
Other benefits of this device include helping position the jaw more forward, massaging the gums which helps teeth growing and pain associated with teething, forces the tongue to elevate and promotes nose breathing. Equally as important as these functional changes is the stimulation of the vagus nerve which helps calm the nervous system.

How to use a Myo Munchee from 18 months to 3 years old?

At this stage, this is a great tool to keep promoting good oral and tongue function, nose breathing, the ability to close the lips and seal them and palate width.
Since these are ages where myofunctional therapy can help (for example: doing exercises at home), this will stimulate and work the muscles needed for proper oral function and the prevention of oral procedures.

Check out the myomunchee website for more info! We have a few available at the clinics if you'd like to see or purchase :)

Click here

Looking for more information on oral function? Check out our blog post on Mouth Taping, to better your sleep!

Mouth Taping Article

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Subject: February @ Oaktree: Jaw/Oral Function & Valentines Day 💕