40 million people in America suffer from headaches. If you are one of them, it is possible that you might find relief from the pain in a dental chair. Surprised? Are you thinking how migraine headaches and dentistry could be related? Then read on to know all about NTI-TSS for the treatment of headaches.

When tension and stress make people clench jaws, the outcome could be excruciating pain in shoulders, neck and head. Dentists have found that a tiny plastic device that could be worn over front two teeth (unlike night guards and bite plates) could break cycle of stress induced jaw clenching.

This device is known as NTI-TSS or Nociceptive Trigeminal Inhibitor – Tension Suppression System. It has been approved by FDA for treating headaches more than 6 years ago. Once the dentist installs NTI to the teeth, you have to wear it in the night in order to help lessen intense contractions of muscles of the jaw and scalp that could cause jaw pain and migraines.

Research has proved that patients using the NTI experience reduction in intensity of clenching of jaw by nearly 66%. These individuals also see significant reduction in frequency and number of headaches. The NTI causes incisors or front teeth to be constantly in contact. This prevents other pearly whites from touching.  

Theory behind NTI is people who suffer from migraines have trigeminal nerves that are hyperactive. The nerves are present on either part of head, they supply muscles of the jaw and in individuals with migraine, their hyperactivity leads to jaw clenching, particularly at night. Resulting tension in muscle and pain could then cause migraines. NTI-TSS for the treatment of headaches prevents the teeth at back of jaw from coming in contact. This totally prevents bruxism or clenching. You could try this yourself. Touch your teeth at the front together. It is physically not possible to clench the jaw at same time.

As NTI is worn over front teeth, the simple device does not let back teeth meet; hence you cannot clench the teeth together. Conventional night guards that are shaped like horseshoes only prevent teeth from being worn down by one another. They are unable to prevent clenching. While such appliances are vital where applications exist, regular nighttime clenchers would fail to get relief from symptoms they face.

Research presented recently in London reported that by 4th week of nocturnal use of the NTI-TSS for the treatment of headaches device, almost 75% showed significant improvements in HIT-6 scores. By 2nd month, all the HIT-6 scores had become stable.

After 7 months of continuous nocturnal use of the NTI device 50% showed substantial improvement in quality of lives. Half of them reported that their migraines did not have any effect on the way they lived any longer. 65% of the positive responders reported 1250% growth in mornings free of headaches every week (Pre NTI – 5/week and Post NTI – 0.4/week). You would find more data on this research at NTI site.

Call Dr J Basrai who can help make a customised NTI splint on 01375481000 to help alleviate pain from your headaches.

How migraine headaches treated in Essex?

 
Migraine headaches in Essex are tackled by migraine clinics. What are they? A migraine or headache clinic specializes in diagnosis as well as treatment of head pain and migraine. These clinics are usually linked to neurology departments in hospitals and are headed by consultant neurologists or doctors having specific expertise and interest in migraine. The staff usually consists of multi-disciplinary teams.
Migraine clinics would be capable of confirming that are attacks are actually migraine.

They would review your present treatment and recommend ways through which you could manage the condition. The staff at these centers tends to boast of extensive expertise on migraine types and latest treatments and would frequently call upon services of the other experts.

Most people who suffer from migraine headaches in Essex and ask for the advice of a doctor are taken care of solely by their general practitioners. There are around 15 to 20 dedicated migraine clinics in the UK.

Unfortunately this is insufficient for serving everyone with migraine and headache.
Further investigation would be required if the problem is not being well-managed or a patient does not respond favorably to treatment.

There are many reasons a GP might refer you to specialist clinic such as doubt about diagnosis of the problem, suspicion of rarer type of the condition, presence of headaches other than migraines that could complicate the diagnosis, no effect of the treatment being given, the headaches or migraines are becoming more frequent or getting worse or at the patient’s request.

All the NHS clinics for migraine would need referral letters from medical practitioners before they could accept new patients. This is in all likelihood to be the family GPs but could also be hospital doctors or healthcare professionals within NHS.

Number of patients a migraine clinic would see depends greatly on the strength of the staff and opening times. Most of the clinics in Essex have waiting lists and most tend to be open for few hours every week. For majority people, first appointment would take some weeks though many clinics boast waiting lists of many months.  

When you take an appointment to migraine clinic for first time, it is advisable to keep diary of the migraine attacks. Keeping record could be extremely beneficial in helping the medical expert get a clear idea of the problem. This is important also because since no particular test exists for diagnosing migraine, a lot would depend on the description you offer.

The diary should have information on the time of the day and day of week when the headache is experienced, frequency of the pain, where it occurs, kind of pain such as piercing, throbbing, etc., occurrence of other symptoms like having problems of vision or being sick, duration of the attacks, the treatment you undergo and effectiveness of the treatment.
The doctor would need doses and names of medications you have taken before.

This would include complementary treatments like herbalism, homeopathy, acupuncture, etc. and herbal remedies you have attempted. The more information you give about your condition, the easier it would be for the doctor to treat your migraine headaches in Essex.  

Dr J Basrai in Essex utilises his knowledge on the relationship of your bite to the muscles of mastication and your TMJ joint to successfully help his patients in Essex with their headaches using a combination of Botox Injections and a special NTI splint. Call 01375481000 to schedule a consultation with our selves if Migraines have debilitated your life 🙁