I came to Dr. O'Brien because my jaw was popping, it was painful when I opened my mouth and my jaw always felt so tired after chewing. I also complained that my teeth were always sensitive, that I had a habit of biting my cheeks but I didn't know why and I had a lot of bad headaches. What I learned was that it was all related to my bite.
At my consultation appointment, Dr. O'Brien felt he could treat my symptoms so I decided to make the committment to have an orthotic made. I was still a little skeptical until my first appointment. I sat in a quiet room for about 45 minutes with these little white pads placed on each side of my face. I felt a soft twitch in my facial muscles every second or so. After about 20 minutes of this I started to feel a kind of lightness in my head, my neck, and my shoulders. My sinuses also began to drain and my ears unplugged for the first time in God knows how long. At this point I was really excited that I chose to do this and couldn't wait to get my orthotic and start wearing it if this was how it was going to make me feel.
I got my orthotic fitted a few weeks later. It took a bit and some adjusting for the popping sound to go away, but the tiredness after chewing and the difficulty opening went away quickly. Also, my headaches were much less frequent and less severe. Even better, my fatigue went away, my body didn't have that achy feeling anymore and I'm sleeping better now than I ever have. I'm amazed! This treatment really works. I know this because I had misplaced my orthotic for a few weeks at one point and the soreness and the headaches came right back. When I finally found it, my symptoms went away quickly. I definitely won't misplace it again!
All this happened by putting my bite in the correct position with my orthotic. Eventually, I plan to have Dr. O'Brien do treatment that will permanently change my bite so I won't need to wear my orthotic anymore. Until then, I'm so glad I had this treatment done--it's really made a difference in my life. Thank you Dr. O'Brien!
Candace Baum,
Certified Massage Therapist
