When it comes to using the latest science to improve performance both on and the off field it's the professional athletes who are playing catch-up with weekend warriors and armchair quarterbacks.
Experts have been abuzz about the science behind a custom-fitted mouthguard found to be improving endurance, strength and flexibility for professional athletes. More than 300 players in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, pro golf, plus boxers and runners are benefiting from the science of what is called neuromuscular dentistry that is employed by the mouthguard.
It's the same science used every day by nearly 800 specially-trained neuromuscular dentists across the United States, Canada and Australia. These dentists eliminate chronic pain including migraines, head pain, popping and clicking of the jaw, abnormal tooth wear, tingling fingers and ringing in the ears. They often see patients referred by ear, nose and throat physicians diagnosed with seemingly untreatable facial pain.
A neuromuscular dentist treats temporomandibular jaw joint disorder or TMD, a condition commonly known as TMJ. Traditional training in dentistry does not include the science to understand, evaluate and balance the bite position and use of the jaw muscles; so not every dentist understands how to treat people suffering from TMD. Fewer than 5 percent of the world's dentists are trained in neuromuscular dentistry.
Neuromuscular dentists are trained after dental school at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI). At LVI, dentists learn special techniques and to use advanced diagnostic equipment including computer programs and advanced imaging to find a patient's optimum neuromuscular position -- the point at which the jaw is naturally aligned and at rest. After patients see their condition is improved they can then be fitted with crowns and veneers to permanently hold the new balanced position.
On average, the jaw opens and closes 3,000 times a day. "When your bite is not right, it often leads to chronic pain. Just like flexing your arm for a second is comfortable, but flexing it continuously for two to three minutes starts to hurt, a strained position eventually causes discomfort," says Dr. Mark Duncan, clinical director at LVI.
With the muscles and skeletal support in balance, people report improved breathing and sleep, increased strength, flexibility and endurance-- in everyday life and their chosen sport. More important, many report chronic pain from which they have suffered for years dissipates or goes away entirely.
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