TMJ - Jaw Pain Relief

At Advanced Dental we utilize the NTI-tss device as one of our treatments to help you gain relief from jaw pain. For more information on the NTI-tss please visit their website at www.nti-tss.com.

How an NTI-tss Works

This is a simple demonstration of the efficacy of the NTI-tss device.

A) B)

A) Begin by gently biting on the moon portion of your fingernail, using your central incisors. Only be forceful enough to create slight discomfort.

B) Now attempt to use the same amount of force, but this time bite with a canine tooth on the same spot of your fingernail as you did with the central incisors.

What happens?  Biting with the canine tooth is suddenly more painful than with the incisors... Why?

The incisor teeth are intended to not only incise food, but to be "hardness monitors" of what you're biting into.  They are under your control and tell you if something will be to hard to chew.

The canine teeth are designed for grasping and pressing into what it is that you're trying to hold on to.  The intensity of muscular activity created once the canine teeth have been engaged is under less voluntary control.  The message to the brain is: "We've opened our mouth to grab something and have caught it...hold on!"  The contacting canine teeth encourages jaw clenching!

Dentistry's attempt at dealing with parafunctional jaw muscle activity
(the most destructive of which is jaw clenching)
has been to provide alterations of the biting surfaces of the teeth.

1) A full coverage splint, usually a thickness which mimics the intended space between the teeth when the jaw musculature is supposed to be at rest, provides both canine and posterior teeth contact, thereby allowing for perpetuation of parafunctional muscular activity.

2) By increasing the thickness of the splint, clenching intensity may be altered, depending on the amount of pressure applied to particular teeth.  If contacts are "heavier" in the molar region, clenching intensity can be suppressed.  If contacting is prevalent in the canine region, clenching is reflexive.

3) An anterior bite plane reduces parafunctional intensity of the masseters, and to a degree, the lateral pterygoids, but still provides canine contact for temporalis clenching.

A) B)

The NTI-tss device reduces clenching intensity by exploiting the mechanisms of the incisor teeth and by avoiding the engagement of the canine and molar teeth when the jaw is centered (A), and when it is in excursive positions (B).

To find out if the NTI-tss device is right for you please call 860.828.3933 or email us at info@AdvancedDental.com to arrange a complimentary consultation.

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