Full Oral-Cranial Analysis
Sometimes a patient is in pain for no obvious reason. This pain may last for months and years. The patient may seek help from several doctors of different disciplines, all of whom try their hardest but are unable to do more than mask the symptoms with medication. We do more at Reveal Diagnostics.
All pain is caused by a concrete reason. We search for that reason by examining the patient’s
- area of pain and neighboring areas
- alveolar nerve
- cortical bone integrity
- sinuses
- airway
- occlusion
- condyles and TMJ
- spinal alignment
- cranial alignment
- medical history
- diet
- fitness
- stress levels
With this data, and with a 3D x-ray scan at our San Francisco dental imaging center or any of our satellite Bay Area dental imaging lab, we examine everything–because everything really is connected. We examine the cone beam data and then consult our network of experts.
For example, a patient arrived with a extreme pain around a lower 2nd molar. X-rays show nothing wrong. We used the 3D CBCT scan to look at
- the area of pain, but nothing looked unusual
- the opposing quadrant, but again nothing out of the ordinary
- the spine, and one vertebrae was twisted
- the TMJ and the jaw was slightly rotated
We also spoke to the patient. She had been in pain for three months. No sudden onset of pain (she wasn’t opening bottle caps with her teeth) or traumatic event. Her sleep and diet hadn’t changed. No stressful events such as new job, relationship, or residence… but she was in a “very minor” car accident. Somebody rear-ended her while she was at a stop sign. It was at low speed. There was no damage to her car. She was pushed forward just three feet. She even let the person go without asking for insurance, and after two or three days of whiplash she had forgotten about the incident.
After consulting with a radiologist, chiropractor specializing in car accidents and doctor specializing in TMJ issues, we presented the referring doctor with the hypothesis:
- the car accident twisted her neck
- for three days the attached tendons and muscles reformed to accommodate the new position (hence the whiplash stiffness)
- those reforming muscles are attached to the mandible, causing rotation of the jaw
- her aching tooth is fine, for now, but she’s occluding on it and nothing else as a result of her spinal misalignment
Ten seconds and some articulating paper confirmed this was the case! Our Full Oral-Cranial Analysis helped the referring doctor alleviate a toothache with chiropractic therapy. That old song “the kneebone is connected to the leg bone” was on to something…
If you have a patient who has been in chronic pain and nobody seems to be able to help, call us. That’s what we do.
