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The Muscles
Different muscles come into play for positioning the
jaw, opening and closing the jaw (biting and
chewing), and swallowing. the muscles that
open the jaw are in the neck area and the muscles
that posture your jaw are the ones that extend
upward through the cheeks and into the forehead
area. The power muscle for chewing are in the cheek
area. Swallowing muscles must have something to
brace against to function. The Posturing muscles
generally hold the jaw at a position where the teeth
are close to occlusion. 1-2 mm apart.
Control of all of this is done subconsciously
without having to think about it-your brain is
programmed to do this through a process that is
called proprioception. If everything is just
right and the jaw is not moving, most of these
muscles are said to be at rest, or barely working to
maintain posturing. If your natural teeth do not fit
together properly, your muscles may accommodate,
forcing the jaw to close on a path that stresses and
fatigues the muscles over time.
The joints
The jaw is able to move since it operates on a joint
called temporomandibular joint (tmj), there is also
a soft pad called a disc that lies between these two
structures. The head of the mandible in the joint is
called condyle, the position of the condyle in the
fossa is largely determined by where the muscles are
holding the jaw- a position in turn affected by the
bite (occlusion). If the system is in balance, the
condyles will essentially be centered in the fossa
and the disc moves freely with the joint. If the
muscles of mastication are accommodating as
described above, they may be holding the jaw joinyt
in an abnormal position, negatively affecting its
function. this may result in limited jaw opening
and/or deviation of the jaw during opening.
The Posture
Posture can also play a significant role in your
occlusion. The jaw could be considered one end of
your interrelated skeleton, just bring your teeth
gently together till you get the very first contact
then tilt your head back and fort and you will
see the position of teeth contact will change. With
head posture affecting occlusion, and due to
interrelationship of the entire musculoskeletal
system, the neuromuscular dentist will want to know
if there is tension in the muscles of the neck and
upper back area. if there is this will affect the
occlusion and the treatment. a lot of people have
forward positioning of the neck and head this will
most often cause shoulder muscles to ache. This
condition can be as a result of bad bite
(malocclusion).
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