Dr. Curtis Westersund

How Occlusion Globally Affects the Body and the Body Affects the Occlusion

Why is it important to understand the global affects of occlusion on the body? We have the BioPAK and the T-Scan incorporated into our practice but we do not always get the fast resolution we want. And sometimes, it seems our patients are either not responding or do not maintain stability. Why can some patients be a such a problem? The answer is that the problem we are trying to solve, that we labeled TMD, is multifactorial and there is no single factor protocol for treating TMD. You cannot treat a tipped pelvis, a muscle spasm in your shoulder, a rotated cervical vertebrae, the Temporo-Mandibular Joint and a tooth with only one treatment. TMD is multifactorial and it therefore requires a multi-disciplined and coordinated effort. I know this and I have made it my life effort to bring multiple health care providers together to help those people who suffer from TMD. The cool part of this is that as dentists, we are able to be the quarterback of the patient’s health care and we can provide systematic and directed steps to help alter the global stress and strain our pain patient is suffering from. I will go through the steps in diagnosing and directing treatment for my TMD patients in my own practice.