TMJ/TMD Dysfunction
(Head and Neck Pain)
 Sleep Apnea Treatment & Appliances
Snore Appliances

These dentally related areas require a multi-factorial approach to care.  There has to be open communication between your dental and/or medical doctors and our office.  These problems (syndromes) tend to occur over time and may require different paradymes (treatments and how to treat) to help obtain resolution.  Dr. Ayers has chosen to devote his time and energy to work with these difficult  and often hard to solve problems.

The body is connected from head to toe.  Trauma, or problems in general in/on one part of the body may directly affect/effect another part of the body.  The puzzle dysfunction often has to be unraveled and resolved in layers, much as you un-peel an onion, because the human body may not allow this knowledge to be readily available.

Head and Neck Pain, and TMJ/TMD Dysfunction have been a particular interest of Dr. Ayers for many years.  He has taken special courses, and sought out new and progressive methods to be able to try to unravel dentally related conditions.  There are a variety of treatments available in the medical and dental community to attempt to alleviate pain problems.  His quest is to find those treatments that helps patients in these hard to treat areas. 

Sleep apnea is a very dangerous health problem.  If your breathing is cut off for a time -- long enough to build up carbon dioxide so the body wakes itself up -- this indicates you have a very serious medical problem.  A physician must be the primary evaluator to diagnose where you are and what type of treatment you should receive.  If you (or your sleeping partner) suspect you are having this problem, please contact your physician and ask what to do.  In most instances, your physician will refer you to a 'sleep lab' for diagnosis.  Because of the seriousness of this syndrome, Dr. Ayers only treats sleep apnea patients on a referral from physicians. 

Many patients are put on a nightly breathing appliance.  If this does not work, or your physician and sleep lab feel you will do well with a specially fitted dental sleep apnea appliance,  we are happy to provide treatment.   We work with your physician, sleep lab, and other medically coordinated treatments to supply you with Sleep Orthotics (appliances).  We also work with RFV (Resultant Force Vector) therapy in both the Sleep Apnea area, and TMJ/TMD Dysfunction, snoring and head and neck pain.

Snoring is often more noise than we, friends, family want to put up with.  As long as there are no apnea attacks related to the snoring, the main treatment is to see if a specialized appliance can cut down the noise to an acceptable level.  Patients may also seek help to evaluate if the muscle  balance in the oral area can be changed to help decrease the noise. Dr. Ayers often recommends RFV (Resultant Force Vector) therapy in this area along with appliances.