The dental aspect of treatment

As mentioned the skull will flex when you inhale and extend on exhaling. The full range of motion may be impeded and that can happen in any joint or suture. The most obvious is the main jaw joint, or T.M.J. which stands for Temple-Mandible-Joint. This is a complex joint and we deal with that separately in its own section.

Where there are torsions and strains in the body, these joints or sutures lose their full range of mobility. This reduces the ability to move and to allow the associated neurology and CSF mobility to occur.

Where this can be seen is simply by looking at the face. See if one eyebrow is higher than the opposite one, the top jaw should be level with eyes and ears. This can be seen on x-rays too.  In fact the x-rays are where the analysis is measured.

Having measured these distortions, the direction of treatment can be mapped out. Where the jaw may sit higher on one side, the other side is built up to make the bite level. In conjunction with Cranial Sacral treatment or orthodontics, the build-up is trimmed away and the high side lowered and the low side brought up. This has to be coordinated with other care givers such as osteopaths and podiatrists. This has also to be seen in three dimensions as the torsions are always in 3D. Each person is both different and dynamic so the point that treatment starts and how it progresses will be different.

What sort of problems do we see that can be helped with Functional Cranio-Facial and Chirodontic treatments?

Essentially issue where there are limitations in structural movement and asymmetries in the skeleton and the muscles that attach to them. This includes headaches, tooth grinding (bruxism) and clenching. It includes the issues connected to cranial growth and that of course is orthodontics and related face growth and face shape. Rarely is a distorted face attractive. Even the Mona Lisa has uneven cheek-bones and while interesting, nobody would call her attractive.

Head position

As the posture changes the head, which is quite heavy is held offset to balance the body. This leads to problems for the muscles (headaches that recur in the same area) size of the airway which is dependant on the position of the jaw. A blocked or compromised airway means you have to hold your jaw forward and your head projected forward too. This causes problems in the neck bones as they were not designed for such forces and often will develop arthritis.
As the head shifts the blood vessels, muscles and nerves coming through the region from the base of the skull to the top of the ribs will be affected. This includes all the major nerves to lungs, heart and gut. It influences the nerves from the top three bones in the neck in particular. These are the Cervical vertebrae C1, C2 and C3. The nerves form here go into the base of the brain and connect or ‘Converge” with the largest of all the Cranial nerves, the 5th nerve and that allows the nerve supplying sensation to the surface of the eyeball to swap messages with the nerve from halfway down your neck. This can lead to a great deal of confusion in the interpretation of where pain comes from and what it does.