Sunday 19 June 2016

Malocclusion of teeth and misalignment of the Atlas

Malocclusion of teeth and misalignment of the Atlas

We have observed that realignment of the Atlas can positively influence any incorrect position of the jaw, allowing improvement in malocclusion. Disorders such as trigeminal neuralgia or TMJ (temporomandibular joint) syndrome may worsen due to an incorrect location of the Atlas.
Many people report that they have found changes in the alignment of the jaw after the Atlas treatment: If the jaw is only slightly skewed, thanks to the correction of the Atlas, the problem may clear up spontaneously.
Cases have been observed in which, after correction of the Atlas, the treated person recovered a perfectly symmetrical posture. In other cases, the posture is only partially corrected. We therefore asked ourselves what could have caused this difference in reaction.
After careful observation, it was possible to conclude that in subjects in which the posture is corrected only partially, also the jaw was subject to significant misalignment (malocclusion).
In extreme cases of malocclusion, it is not enough merely to correct the Atlas to solve the problem completely. It thus becomes necessary to act directly on the jaw and, more specifically, on the teeth, which are responsible for its incorrect position.

Tests to assess misalignment of the jaw (malocclusion)

It is easy to check whether malocclusion is present. It is enough to look at one's face in the mirror keeping the mouth closed and relaxed and teeth together, or even better take a photo of the face, then observe them carefully. As you can see in the opposite picture, reference lines allow us to consider the jaw in relation to the skull.
If the jaw is aligned and in the ideal position, then the eye line is perfectly parallel to the lip line (L = R in the picture) and the center of the chin is on the midline of the face.
If there is a deviation from this ideal situation, this means there is a malocclusion.
kieferfehlstellung

How can malocclusion be corrected?

Only by modifying the teeth is it possible to obtain permanent alignment of the jaw and thus correct occlusion. Other types of treatment performed on the muscles of the jaw have only a temporary effect!
There are several ways of changing the height and contact surface of the teeth. A consultation with a competent dentist who is aware of the relationship between posture and occlusion is advised. What ultimately counts is the result: the lower jaw must be aligned! Too often we see people with extreme malocclusions who are convinced that they are fine just because they wear a bite plate! If the test described above indicates a misaligned jaw, then it means you have a malocclusion no matter what your dentist has led you to believe!
It is essential to treat malocclusion if you want to maintain your health as you get older!
Another critical point for getting better and staying healthy is the following: it is ABSOLUTELY vital to avoid having metal in the mouth! Amalgams, gold, titanium or other alloys, regardless of the metal (including implants) have no place in the mouth! Experience has shown that any metal in the mouth is detrimental to the health of many patients in the long run.

Why does the jaw influence posture?

Zungenbein und Kieferfehlstellung
"Hanging" under the jaw we find the Hyoid bone, which in addition to the jaw, is also connected to the rear of the skull in the Atlas region. The Hyoid bone is the only bone in the body without direct connections with other bones, it is practically a bone on its own!
The hyoid bone can be compared with a spirit level: it performs static adjustments of posture.
The upper part of the Hyoid bone is connected to the jaw; a spatial displacement of the mandible corresponds to a displacement of the Hyoid bone, which in turn changes the tension of the descendants muscle chains.
Through this mechanism, the hyoid bone regulates the static posture of the body, like a puppet maneuvered by wires.
The sequence is as follows: the teeth determine the position of the jaw, the mandible determines the position of the Hyoid bone, and the latter regulates the posture of the body.
Muscle tension created by the misalignment of the Atlas and malocclusion of the mandible are the factors that cause asymmetrical tension on the Hyoid bone and consequent damage to posture such as a tilted pelvis or one shoulder higher than the other.
This explains why the correction of the pelvis performed by chiropractors and osteopaths is not maintained over time: the basic problem lies upstream! As long as the Atlas – and if necessary the jaw – is not corrected, the pelvis will always return to an asymmetrical position! The proof of this lies in the fact that by correcting the Atlas and jaw, the pelvis realigns itself and, most importantly: it stays aligned!
Practice has shown that the current orthopedic theory according to which misalignment of the pelvis is caused by the feet or by the problem of one leg being shorter than the other, is in most cases completely wrong.

Intervene before puberty

The German dental surgeon Udo Bär performed a series of tests on several hundred patients, coming to the conclusion that occlusion plays a fundamental role in posture, in other words that posture information is stored /encoded in the teeth.
After repeated tests and measurements during different stages of child development, Dr. Bär came to the conclusion that children's posture is easily influenced until the first permanent molar (therefore after the milk teeth have come out) has grown to make intercuspal contact with its counterpart.
During these tests children's pelvic symmetry was measured and, if necessary, corrected. In later measurements, carried out periodically months later, the pelvis was still straight and balanced, provided that the subject had not suffered an accident or violent falls. This lasting correction effect is observable up to the age of 15 and corresponds to a spontaneous change in the position of the teeth.
Conversely, by correcting the inclination of the pelvis in children whose first molar was already in contact with its counterpart (after the age of 15), it was found that the correction is not maintained over time.
From this observation the importance of entering the stage of puberty (10-14 years) with good posture – pelvis, back, neck (Atlas) – can be deduced. Otherwise the posture is "stored /encoded" in the teeth and becomes much more difficult to correct.
It is important to correct the position of the Atlas before entering puberty!

Intervening on adults

In adulthood, because of damage from decay, incorrectly positioned teeth, extractions, abrasion due to night grinding (bruxism), the surface of the teeth, or the cuspids change and so does occlusion as a result, leading in turn to deteriorating posture.
To regain good posture it is essential to restore the mandible's balance and the spatial position. To do so it is necessary to modify the teeth. Restricting treatment to treating the chewing muscles means finding oneself facing the same problem before long.
BEFORE acting on the teeth it is necessary to study the patient's occlusion and posture accurately to be clear what result one intends to obtain. Without a preliminary study we risk worsening an already serious situation, as well as spending money unnecessarily.

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