I can only report what I witness.
This case was the one that started my investigations into the impact of dentistry on neurological function.
Here was a mid 60’s woman who came to me with a severely painful right shoulder and chronic stomach pain.
During my exam I could find nothing that made sense. The muscles of the shoulder were neurologically inhibited [weak], but I was having trouble finding the cause.
I searched everywhere.
There didn’t appear to be any problem with the actual muscles, tendon or shoulder joint. The nerves coming from the neck were not the problem either. The cranial bones also made no impact on the strength of her shoulder muscles. And no herbs made a change whatsoever.
Then I noticed she had some type of implant in one of her front upper teeth.
I had her start pushing it in different directions while I rechecked her shoulder muscles. Lo and behold this was it.
By putting pressure on the tooth/implant, which then stimulated any nerves in her gums, her shoulder muscles would change.
It was then she realized the shoulder pain [and also stomach pain] started shortly after getting that implant put in.
We contacted the dentist, who wanted nothing to do with removing the implant [even though my patient was going to pay cash for the procedure]. He said he had never seen a problem with them.
I understand this. He is thinking mouth irritation or some other type of problem in the actual area. But how many dentists are paying attention to what might be happening far removed from the actual dental implant site? Do patients walk into their office complaining to them of shoulder pain?
I doubt it.
He finally agreed to do the procedure.
The moment my patient stood up and moved her arm after he removed the implant, she had zero pain.
It was immediately gone, along with her stomach pain as well. The dentist said it was the placebo effect. Honestly, my patient didn’t care whatsoever what it was. She knew she was out of pain. And she knew the real truth of what happened.
This case was over 10 years ago as I write this, and she is still a regular patient of mine to this day. Zero pain.
Now let me ask this…..
How many adjustments or how much therapy would she have needed to overcome the neurological insult of that dental implant?
Could you imagine her doing exercise after exercise trying to “strengthen” the shoulder muscles? Can you imagine the amount of money she would have spent in my office if I was just trying to adjust her shoulder or do muscle work on the shoulder?
Would she ever have recovered?
I don’t even want to think about it. Her muscles already knew what to do. They didn’t need more exercise. In fact, that would have problem made the situation worse over time. They were being impeded by an insult into her nervous system. The dental implant was somehow causing a short circuit. That is what needed to be discovered.
I don’t treat conditions in my office. I look at people, listen, do my exam, and try to make sense of what is happening.
And I don’t judge where the problem might be coming from, because you just never know.