San Francisco and Marin CA
It’s hard to focus on daily tasks when you have a pounding headache. Unfortunately, some people suffer from chronic, sometimes debilitating headaches quite regularly, and they might overlook dental problems as a potential cause of their suffering. But dental problems can and often do lead to migraines. And it’s possible that our dentist in San Francisco can help provide some relief.
Anything from a jaw-joint disorder to a misaligned bite could cause chronic and debilitating headaches. Let’s take a closer look at some dental issues that could possibly be contributing to your migraines:
Bruxism
Bruxism is the grinding and clenching of teeth, usually when someone is sleeping. It overworks the jaw muscle, which can cause pain in the jaw, face and head.
Bad bite
When teeth don’t fit together properly, even small movements like biting down, talking or chewing can overwork and strain the jaw and wear down teeth, all of which can lead to headaches.
TMJ Disorder
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder affects the jaw joints and surrounding muscles and ligaments. TMJ can cause pain in the joints and muscles. It can also cause toothaches and headaches.
Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea occurs when throat tissue causes someone to stop breathing for periods of time while sleeping. This common condition can trigger tension-type headaches in some people while causing migraine attacks in others.
Tooth damage/infection
Tooth damage and infections can travel to the tooth’s pulp, reaching the cranial trigeminal nerve, which then carries pain to other parts of the face and head. Pain in any part of the face, jaw or head can travel via the nerve to any other place in the area because the nerve branches out to various cranial places, including the forehead, cheek and lower jaw. Pain travels along the nerve, so pain felt in the jaw, for instance, can travel to other parts of the head, causing headaches and migraines.
Treatment for headaches
Our dentist’s office in Marian specializes in addressing dental issues that could be causing chronic headaches. Relief could be as simple as oral appliance therapy, or wearing a custom-made, comfortable night guard when you sleep. Oral appliance therapy is immediately effective and has a high success rate, with many patients reporting relief from jaw, face and head pain almost immediately.
Pain-relief Dentistry in the Bay Area
If you suffer from chronic headaches or migraines, treatments are available. Call our dentists in the Bay Area at Glen Park Dental — (415) 799-3900 — to schedule a consultation. We can determine what may be causing your headaches, and we will work with you on a treatment plan.
