What Is Epigenetics?
Epigenetics is the field that studies the changes in organisms due to gene expression modification rather than genetic code alteration. From an epigenetic perspective of your teeth and jaws, your jaw and facial bones don’t have a pre-determined position. Instead, their growth and development are responsive to influences from your soft tissue.
In other words, the way your jaw and facial bones grow depends on the way you breathe, swallow chew, and complete other functional patterns. When these common function patterns experience corruption, it can cause misaligned teeth, underdeveloped jaw growth, malocclusion, crowded teeth, TMJ disorders, and sleep apnea or sleep breathing problems.
Epigenetic dentistry recognizes these corruptions to functional patterns and alters the genetic expression to help your jaw and facial structures reach their full genetic potential. Epigenetics can help enhance your facial features, straighten your teeth, relieve TMJ symptoms, and improve sleep breathing problems. By opting for an epigenetic approach to your dental problems, you can alter your body’s genetic expression for long-term results.
Epigenetics For Orthodontics
If a dentist has told you that you need an extraction in order to straighten your teeth, this usually isn’t necessary. With epigenetic dentistry and physiologic dentistry, we use jaw development appliances to create more room in your mouth so your teeth can fit comfortably within your arches.
We can also use an epigenetic approach to address retruded jaw problems, overbites, crooked teeth, gapped teeth and much more. Without extractions or surgery, you can achieve a beautiful, straight and perfectly aligned smile by altering your genetic expression.
Improved Facial Appearance
When we use epigenetic dentistry to improve your smile, you may also notice improvements to your facial features. Once we help your jaw reach its full genetic potential, your face may appear longer and narrower, your nose may appear larger, your lips and cheeks will look fuller, and bags under your eyes can improve. Your jawline can also become more defined. Some patients also experience improved posture and head position. Epigenetic dentistry helps restore balance to your face, making your appearance more symmetrical.
Epigenetics For TMJ/TMD Pain
If you suffer from the symptoms of TMJ like jaw pain, it’s likely you’ve tried a nightguard or other treatments. Although these treatments can help you feel some relief, you have to continuously use them for the rest of your life for long-term relief. Epigenetic and physiological dentistry is another approach you can take to treat your TMJ pain in the long run.
We begin your treatment by measuring your jaw to determine what its best resting position is. With this information, we use epigenetic and physiological dentistry to realign your bite and move your jaw into its ideal position. Once we achieve these results, your TMJ symptoms will begin to disappear, providing you with long-term relief.
Epigenetics For Sleep Apnea And Sleep Breathing Problems
If you suffer from sleep apnea or sleep breathing problems related to your airway, epigenetic dentistry can help. Sleep breathing problems and obstructive sleep apnea occur when the muscles in the throat collapse when you sleep and the tongue falls out of position. This then creates an airway obstruction. Oftentimes, the tongue falls out of position because of an underdeveloped jaw. Undeveloped jaws often don’t create enough room for the tongue to rest comfortably.
By using epigenetics, we can fully develop the jawbones to make room for the tongue to rest comfortably. This can eliminate the obstruction to your airway when you sleep and thus eliminate sleep apnea or sleep breathing problems. You will no longer need to use an oral appliance or CPAP machine to sleep at night.
Want to learn more about epigenetic dentistry at Massa Dental Center and find out if it can benefit your smile? Contact our Neuromuscular dentists in Naples by calling (239) 597-7333 to schedule an appointment.
