What if I told you there were a way to address that excruciating pain in the back of your mouth without having to white knuckle the dental chair arms?
The writers of Little Shop of Horrors knew what they were doing when casting a dentist as one of the villains. Many people hate going to the dentist. But where else are you supposed to turn when you have sharp, searing, burning pain that feels like your back teeth are going to fall out?
You could try your massage therapist.
Yup! You read correctly. Some of that pain might be caused by inflammation which is stemming from jaw misalignment or muscle tension. Trigger points in the masseter and temporalis muscles are also major culprits of tooth pain. Some indications your pain may be musculoskeletal are
Clenching your jaw
Grinding your teeth
Tension headaches
High stress
Shoulder pain
Neck pain
Recently a slew of clients have come in experiencing tooth pain. The ache in their mouth was only mentioned incidentally, as they were waiting for a visit to the dentist to assess the issue. Nearly all of these clients was anticipating a root canal or cavity fillings. After spending a few minutes on jaw and scalp work, the pain disappeared. For some, it never came back.
To give a specific example, one client who typically sees me for migraines and shoulder tightness mentioned left jaw pain at the site of a molar he broke several years ago. This tooth had not bothered him since the initial break. Knowing that he holds a lot of tension in his head and had been grinding his teeth at night due to work stress, I offered to take a look. His mandible was pulled to the right, causing excess pull in his left masseter. This created a trigger point in his left temporalis. When I found this knot, my client was shocked that pressure on the spot completely resolved the pain. Using SMRT, I resolved the trigger point, corrected his jaw position, and eased the tension in his masseters and pterygoids. When we were done, his tooth pain was completely gone! All of this took about 10 minutes.
I am someone who doesn't really mind the dentist, but I would still rather lay on a massage table than in a dentist's chair. What about you? Do you have any of the factors listed above? Let me know in the comments!
And remember to share this post!
This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be taken as medical advice.
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Rhiannon Flores-Drennen
LMBT & Founder of Philosopher's Stone Therapeutic Massage
Serving Haddonfield, NJ and Surrounding Areas
Rhiannon loves helping you solve your pain puzzles! A chronic pain specialist with a sub-specialty in pelvic dysfunction, she understands the huge impact pain can have on your life and is dedicated to helping you reach your health goals so you can enjoy your life fully and whole. Though her style can sometimes be described as "therapeutic fluff," she is not the therapist to see for a "just to treat myself" massage.
Augmenting her initial massage training with multiple courses and certifications including SMRT, ATMAT, and IHPS she has the skills to create effective and lasting change for you. But don't go on blind faith - check out her amazing reviews!
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