Got Dental Work?

Published on: 4/24/2014

Yes, receiving bodywork can help before and after dental procedures.

Dental procedures, especially root canals and crown implants, are seldom high on anyone's list of fun things to go through. But it's possible to minimize the effects and speed up your recovery by receiving craniosacral or myofascial release therapy before or after a scheduled procedure. This can help relieve the tension and pressure in the jaw and rebalance the bones of the cranial vault. Taking that extra step can help speed healing from the procedure, as well as reducing swelling, pain, pressure and other symptoms of imbalance between the bones of the skull.

Because of the close interconnections between the bones of the skull, restriction and tension in the mouth and jaw can pull on the rest of the cranial vault and produce any or all of the following symptoms: headaches, sinus pain and pressure, earaches, tinnitus, and neck pain. A session of myofascial release can help to release those lines of pull and rebalance the cranial bones to reduce those symptoms, as well as decreasing pain. The addition of lymphatic drainage therapy can also be beneficial in reducing swelling and improving sinus drainage, which can speed up the healing process.

The typical dental procedure involves holding the mouth open for long periods of time, which produces aches and soreness just by itself. Many times, people also ‘brace’ against the physical and psychological or emotional discomfort, which exaggerates the lines of tension. Add to that the physical pressure exerted by the dentist (holding the jaw to stabilize it for an extraction, for example), and it’s easy to see how dental work can create restrictions and problems throughout the mouth and jaw, as well as the rest of the head and neck. Myofascial release or craniosacral therapy, along with lymphatic drainage therapy, can help prevent those restrictions from growing and producing other symptoms, giving your healing a ‘jump-start’.