Six-Foot Tiger, Three-Foot Cage
Page 7
I referred Chema for thyroid testing and a sleep test and suggested a diet rich in marine vegetables and minerals and warming spices since she was a very committed vegetarian. She chose oral-appliance therapy and then went to visit her Asian home country soon after starting treatment.
Chema’s Oral Appliances Relieve Pain, Open Airway, and Support New Life
Chema’s Treatment Outcome
“I found out last week that I am six weeks pregnant,” Chema told me in an email three and a half months later.
She also reported greatly reduced pain. On a scale of 0 to 10 (none to excruciating pain), Chema reported, “Front teeth pain 3, sleep quality 4, morning energy 3, daytime fatigue 4, teeth grinding 3, and 8 when I forget to wear appliance to sleep.”
Whole-body health pays a price when the maxilla is underdeveloped. With two-arch biomimetic oral appliances solving her three-foot-cage problem, Chema was able to support a new life. At six months she reflected, “The biggest difference is no more pain in teeth, and [I] wake up feeling rested.”
Recently, she sent me the following:
“I delivered my baby boy 11 months after starting oral appliances. I got really busy after that and so haven’t been able to follow up. I have continued to wear the appliance almost every night and I believe it has helped me manage better with the few hours of broken sleep I was getting.”
While many factors contribute to difficulties conceiving a baby, an impaired mouth with its pinched airway is a frequently overlooked one.
There is no upside to a deficient maxilla, but there is magic to a fully developed maxilla.
The Secret Source of Radiant Health and an Attractive Face
As documented by Dr. Weston Price, a well-developed maxilla comes with high cheekbones, naturally straight teeth, keen eyesight, a good airway, and facial radiance.(2) Dr. Price’s book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration—and images like the ones below— catalyzed my turn toward Holistic Mouth Solutions. I keep these images in my mind when I see suffering patients.
Facial radiance results from the maxilla doing its job to support alignment, breathing, circulation, digestion, energy, and sleep. In my experience however, a fully developed maxilla is rare among modern Americans.
Indeed, at the end of every CSI into chronic pain and fatigue, there is a maxilla that is either too narrow, retruded, or both. A narrow or retruded maxilla can (and often does) entrap the lower jaw into a retruded position that drives the tongue farther into the throat.
Think of the maxilla as a shoe and the mandible as a foot. The “heel” is left hanging beyond the shoe when the maxilla is underdeveloped. This discrepancy creates a choke zone behind the soft palate and renders the airway susceptible to sleep apnea that is beyond the reach of a mandibular advance appliance (OAm).
Now we can really see how the maxilla is a major player with respect to brain and body alike through sleep and the airway. Anatomically, for instance, the base of the nose is the roof of the mouth, the floor of the eye sockets is the roof of the maxilla, and high cheekbones are connected to a fully developed maxilla.
Developmentally, the jaws and teeth are part of the body’s command and control center. That’s because they share the same embryological origin as the brain, spinal cord, pituitary gland, and the rest of the nervous system. Structurally, an aligned and balanced craniofacial skeleton means optimal growth, development, and neuro-hormonal functions.
Neurologically, the trigeminal nerve that supplies the maxilla, the mandible, the teeth, the gums, and the jaw muscles is the largest of the twelve cranial nerves covering the head and the gut.
Nutritionally, the maxilla is susceptible to underdevelopment when the diet lacks whole foods and sufficient minerals through the formative years. “There can be no doubt that modern dental-facial problems are encouraged, if not actually caused, by defective diets, by pathological conditions of the nose and throat, and by general poor health,” Francis Pottenger, MD, observed in Pottenger’s Cats (3).
Nutrition by itself, however, will not restore a stunted maxilla in adults. A bone-building diet, such as Nourishing Traditions Diet by Sally Fallon(4), is a basic part of a Holistic Mouth treatment plan.
Socially, the maxilla is a major part of “putting your best face forward” and the centerpiece of social identity. A deficient maxilla comes with flat cheekbones and facial profile, and all the disadvantages of an impaired mouth. Conversely, a face with a well-developed maxilla comes with a naturally lovely smile that is pleasing to the eyes.
Take a look at images of movie stars most widely regarded as beautiful or handsome: Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Berenice Bejo, Rock Hudson, and Greta Garbo, for instance. You’ll see each has a well-developed midface that is the maxilla.
Diagnostic Clues for Impaired Mouth CSI
Structurally, the maxilla is connected to the central bone in the skull, the sphenoid bone, which forms the skull’s “hull” with the occiput (pillow) bone in the back.
As the “front end” of the craniofacial skeleton, the maxilla can offer valuable diagnostic clues regarding craniofacial misalignment, such as one eye higher, a slanted mouth, a tilted head, or a narrow and asymmetrical palate, such as the case below. Integration of oral-appliance therapy with craniosacral therapy, massage therapy, and chiropractic care is needed in such cases.
Red arrow points to neck muscle tension from head tilt and malocclusion. This posture means chronic and persistent pain until the craniofacial imbalance is diagnosed and treated.
Airway: How an Optimal Maxilla Maximizes Academic, Athletic, and Job Performance
Dental-facially, a fully developed maxilla has sufficient arch length and width for all sixteen teeth to line up straight as well as sufficient height to support high cheekbones and big, attractive eyes. Most importantly, a fully developed maxilla comes with a wide-open airway and thus high natural energy from a good night’s sleep night after night.
Wide Dental Arches on top left and Narrow Dental Arches on top right added by the author
Watch athletes being interviewed on TV, and you will have opportunities galore to observe the facial features of winners in sports. High cheekbones, wide maxillae, smiles without dark corridors between the teeth and mouth corners, well-defined lower jawlines, and convex facial profiles are the rule—and evidence that Holistic Mouths make winners with optimal form for superior performance.
This isn’t to say that someone with an impaired mouth is destined to lose. Sheer will and determination can make winners out of anyone. My point here is that the same athlete, student, or small business owner can perform better and achieve more while feeling and looking better with a fully developed maxilla as the centerpiece of a Holistic Mouth.
Holistic Mouth Bites
A deficient maxilla is a cardinal feature of an impaired mouth, and neck pain is a frequent side effect. There is no upside to a deficient maxilla.
A well-developed maxilla is the foundation of health and beauty, as well as the secret to superior intellectual and athletic performance.
Pain in and around the head, jaws, neck (and often far beyond) is a frequent finding in patients with Impaired Mouth Syndrome, which happen more frequently in patients who had teeth taken out for braces.
Developing the maxilla with two-arch biomimetic oral appliances naturally confers a wider airway and more oxygen 24/7. Patients with long-standing pain and other health complaints predictably show rapid improvement once we begin to address the maxilla.
The same athlete, student, or small business owner can perform better and achieve more while feeling and looking better with a fully developed maxilla as the centerpiece of a Holistic Mouth.
Chapter Eleven
Holistic Mouth Solutions Ended Fatigue, Allergies, Marital Stress, and Antidepressant Use: Case Study
It is so true that a sleeping issue in a marriage is both parties’ problem equally. I am sleeping better because she does not toss and turn OR sound like a walrus.
– K.S.’s sp
ouse
Virtually everything I was trying to fix by removing the mercury had been resolved by opening my airway.
– Patient K.S.
Breathing suffers when the maxilla is structurally deficient. The nasal passage can be regarded as an air tunnel through the maxilla to warm and humidify incoming air and to filter dust, pollen, bacteria, and viruses. Habitual mouth breathing breeds respiratory infections in children and adults alike.
A stuffy nose during developmental years can lead to habitual mouth breathing, narrower jaws, and longer faces, which in turn perpetuate sinus problems in adults. Sinuses are hollow functional spaces inside the maxilla to reduce the weight of the head and to make nitric oxide, which can help relax blood vessels and reduce blood pressure.
A wider maxilla improves nasal breathing. You can experience the difference for yourself right now: Gently seal your lips and exhale normally through your nose. Then place the index fingers of both hands on either side of your nose at nostril level and lightly spread the skin sideways toward your ears. Now inhale through your nose and note the air volume passing through. Most people can feel the difference right away.
Mandibular advancement appliances (OAm) for snoring and sleep apnea cannot help the nasal passage, whereas a biomimetic appliance (OAb) for the maxilla can, naturally and in a lasting way, as we shall see next.
A Solution to Sinus Symptoms in a Dental Office? Yes!
K.S., a thirty-nine-year-old hair stylist, initially came to me about getting her amalgams replaced. “I want to clean up my body because I’ve been rough on my health for many years.”
She described occupational exposure to chemicals and low back pain from a car accident and kickboxing. “At one point, I couldn’t work for two months,” she said. “I lost my memory while I had a metallic taste in my mouth due to fatigue. I was smoking until last year, and I was on antidepressants for seven years. Then I went vegan one and a half years ago and feel much better. Now I have a bad tooth, and my husband complained about my bad breath.”
She also complained of a potbelly she could never seem to lose, despite plenty of exercise and a conscientious diet.
But there was one thing K.S. didn’t mention: her sinus issues. But why should she? She did not expect to find a solution to them in a dental office. She did not know about impaired mouth and its connection to the upper airway.
My Holistic Mouth checkup for K.S. revealed the following:
Her uvula was not visible, indicating a high risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) (more on that in chapter 13).
Her upper jaw was retruded by 17 mm and was narrower than her lower jaw by 8 mm; this will seriously squeeze her tongue’s habitat and crowd her airway.
There was evidence of teeth grinding with matching wear facets and generalized gum recession
She had tongue-tie (yellow arrows) and bony overgrowths inside her mandible (green arrows), which are caused by jaw clenching and teeth grinding.
She had reduced maximal jaw opening of 43 mm between the upper and lower front teeth. (A normal maximal jaw opening is 48 to 52 mm.)
She had an abscessed tooth, which was the source of her bad breath and which she chose to have extracted.
K.S. chose not have a sleep test done, as recommended, because her insurance deductible was about the cost of her oral-appliance therapy.
The yellow arrows point to substantial retrusion of both the maxilla and mandible pinching the airway.
K.S.’s Holistic Mouth Solutions Treatment Plan
Starting treatment, K.S. was instructed to wear her custom oral appliances, upper and lower, for sixteen hours a day, expanding them by a quarter of a millimeter each week. During sleep, she was to wear an oral face mask to help nudge her retruded maxilla in the right direction.
She was also given diet and sleep hygiene instructions, orofacial myofunctional therapy to break her habit of mouth breathing, and breathing exercises to unblock her stuffy nose as needed. Holistic Mouth Solutions emphasizes nasal breathing 24/7 to augment maxilla redevelopment. Once a month, she would come into the office for progress checks.
Only Three Months Later …
After three months, K.S. emailed me:
First and foremost, I am experiencing much better sleep, and I am actually dreaming vividly almost every night now! This began happening during the FIRST WEEK of use! I used to have dreams like this when I was a kid, but before using this appliance, not in YEARS! I am sleeping all the way through the night as well. I am so much more awake and alert in the mornings, and all the way throughout the day, for that matter.
As for the side effects, I am seeing my skin glowing, my eyes are brighter, and the bags under my eyes are gone! I feel like my circulation all around is much better, and I do not “gasp” for air anymore. Before, I would take [various brand-named allergy medications], nasal spray and gels, humidifiers, tea kettles, exotic muds and salves—you name it! Nothing would prevent me from going to bed fine and waking up stuffed up like hell and feeling like I was going to suffocate! Oh, and that is during NON-allergy season.
During allergy season (or a bad allergy day), I would just be stuffed up constantly and medicate myself to the point of exhaustion. Now, I take nothing. I now sleep all the way through the night, and I wake up renewed and refreshed.
I was skeptical trying this out. I had braces in the past and did not offer any resistance to the plan to remove two of my front teeth and “shrink” my upper jaw, effectively shrinking the “tiger’s cage” too small to allow normal growth or function. When seeing Dr. Liao, he saw this right away and recommended strongly that I be tested for a narrowed airway. I did not come for this: I came to have mercury amalgam fillings removed, so I was unsure. Dr. Liao took the time to explain to me that, despite my legitimate concern about the fillings, my priority should be to open the airway that had become so narrow that it, unbeknownst to me, affected almost every area of my life.
… I opted to have both upper and lower appliances made to increase the size of my jaws, and braces and two false teeth installed later on to hold the shape of my new bite pattern.
This was to take place over the course of two to three years’ time, and was to cost a significant amount of money.
The appliance(s) began to work immediately, and since they are to be adjusted weekly (easily by us right at home with a small tool provided), they continue to open the airway more and more every day, allowing me to experience these results to an even greater degree as I go.
I even had a flight recently to California (from Virginia), and I had NO ear pain or discomfort! I used to have to take a bunch of pills and wear [earplugs for airplane travel], and it would STILL kill my ears to fly, but not now.
I never knew that I was being deprived of the oxygen I needed to thrive, but now that I am experiencing it for the first time in my adult life, I regret not looking into having this done YEARS ago!
I highly recommend this to anyone who feels stuffed up in the morning, tired and groggy all day, or any of the plethora of other symptoms associated with a narrowed airway. Thank you, Dr. Liao!
K.S.’s husband added his observations:
I concur from what I have witnessed (which is pretty much everything except the flight). She sleeps better and QUIETER! … She sleeps in the same spot, and I am now able to get through the night without waking up.
She also clearly has more energy. She thinks better, too, and remembers things that she used to forget. Overall, she just seems more alert and aware that she is alive. She also looks better, too. Her skin looks nice, and her eyes look whiter. I am so impressed that she has had such great results in such a short time.
To those considering, this WILL work if you stick to the program! It may just change your partner’s life, too! We both hope that you share this with anyone it can help. Thank you again!
Holistic Mouth Bites
Eating well, exercising, detoxifying, and other aspects of “living clean” can only help so much if the airway is still too narr
ow from maxilla deficiency.
Impaired Mouth Syndrome is an apt diagnosis for KS, since her medical and dental symptoms are resolved when her impaired mouth structure is redeveloped.
Redeveloping the maxilla helps the sleep partner as well as the sufferer of the impaired mouth and pinched airway.
Widening the airway can bring relief from chronic stuffiness and allergies, as well as fatigue and being persistently overweight.
Chapter Twelve
The Maxilla Triple Win: Better Sleep, Better Health, Better Looks
A doctor’s primary responsibility is to put patients in a position to heal themselves.
– Terrence O’Shaughnessy, DMD,
Orthodontist and TMJ Expert
Deficient maxilla development is a hugely overlooked cause of teeth crowding, sinus problems, snoring, sleep apnea, teeth grinding, pain, and fatigue. Development is the change in size, content, and form over time. Many medical, dental, and mood symptoms in adults are downstream consequences of impaired genetic expression during the childhood years.
The maxilla’s development is particularly susceptible to epigenetic interferences, starting with tongue-tie at birth that hinders breast-feeding and continuing with pacifiers, nutritional imbalance from manufactured foods after weaning, and the resulting stuffy nose and tonsillar inflammation.
Left uncorrected, nasal obstruction can lead to habitual mouth breathing, initiating a chain reaction that culminates in an impaired mouth and its associated oral-systemic complications.
Tongue-tie (medically called short lingual frenulum) “may lead to abnormal orofacial growth early in life, a risk factor for development of Sleep Disordered Breathing.”(1)