Twenty years of Upper Cervical Pain and Vertigo resolved in two days

Manon, who is a mental health therapist, suffered upper cervical pain, TMJ problems and vertigo since 1990. For twenty years Manon tried physical therapy, Atlas Orthogonal chiropractic technique, standard chiropractic therapy, Neuro Cranio Restructuring (NCR) with no lasting results. The missing link in the above therapies is the dental connection. When chiropractic and/ or osteopathic adjustments do not hold, invariably there is a dental malocclusion that is the underlying cause.

Unfortunately there are very few practitioners who understand functional body mechanics. Most healthcare practitioners throw darts at their patients hoping that one dart will hit the target and solve their patient’s problem(s). The reality is it takes years of study to integrate chiropractic, osteopathic, physical therapy, nutrition, medical, and dental concepts. This comprehensive approach is NOT taught in the schools and most practitioners are too busy to embark on a life long journey to make the connections.

The “Cliff Notes” version is as follows: The center of rotation of the lower jaw, Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ), is the second cervical vertebra (C-2 or the axis). A balanced bite or occlusion at the proper height stabilizes the Atlas (C-1) and Axis (C-2) vertebrae. When a patient’s bite is over closed (loss of vertical dimension), it causes compression of the spine, its nerve roots and specially the upper cervical vertebrae. No amount of adjusting the neck will fix the problem. It must be corrected dentally. The second most important issue is that contact of the teeth MUST balance the cranial bones. Ninety nine percent of ALL dentists have no clue of this relationship. I know this first hand because I lecture internationally and witness first hand what dentists are doing clinically. In reality it is a crap shoot when you go to the dentist and get even a simple filling. They do not know that they do not know but they will defend to the death that they have a certificate from an accredited university that states that they successfully completed four years of dental school. The real problem is that the dental schools do not even know this technology, which is like the blind leading the blind.

Resolution involves a sophisticated set of skills to first correct the cranial bone distortions by manual manipulation then correct the bite or occlusal discrepancy by either adjusting the bite by removing interferences or build support by means of a resin shim, which is bonded on to the biting surface of the tooth or teeth. Once the bite/cranial/cervical complex is stabilized the neck pain resolves and the vertigo disappears. Why? Because structural stability allows the muscles, ligaments and nerves to relax and the proprioceptors (sensory nerves) located in the apophyseal joints between the articulations of the upper three cervical vertebrae now signal the brain that there is balance. These receptors have more input into the nervous system’s balancing mechanism than the eyes or the semicircular canals located within the ears.

This complex scenario only took me thirty-five years to figure out. The proof that it works is borne out by the many successes of “difficult” case testimonials.