WHAT IS CHRONIC FATIGUE?
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a condition where the person feels constantly exhausted. Typically, it cannot be explained by general medical problems and the fatigue does not go away after resting. Some triggers that have been associated with this condition include:
- Medical problems, including anemia, heart and lung conditions
- Depression, anxiety and mental health problems
- Sleep disorders
Chronic fatigue varies from person to person. Treatment normally includes a combination of medications, including antidepressants and painkillers, which have several side effects in the body and they do not address the underlying cause.
CHRONIC FATIGUE, BITE ISSUES AND THE JAW JOINT (TMJ)
Chronic fatigue has been indirectly linked to bite and jaw issues. Below are some of the potential dental triggers.
Inadequate breathing or mouth breathing. Our sleep and our performance during the day is strongly influenced by the way we breathe. The nose keeps moisture in the inhaled air, while the air inhaled through the mouth is 42% less moist. Hence, mouth breathing can lead to dehydration, increasing fatigue. Typically, narrow dental arches or severe teeth misalignments are linked to narrow nasal space, impaired nasal breathing and mouth breathing.
Sleep disorders such as sleep apnea. In people with sleep apnea, due to lack of space, the tongue moves backward in the mouth, partially blocking the airway. This leads to interrupted sleep, as the person wakes up several times per hour to restore normal breathing. As a consequence, the person wakes up exhausted despite having enough hours of sleep. Again, jaws, teeth and the shape of the mouth can play a crucial role in the placement of the tongue and in the obstruction of the air.
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction. When lower and upper jaws do not close together in a balanced way, the joint, bones and the muscles can suffer from chronic stress and tension, and this can lead to dysfunction in the jaw joint (TMJ dysfunction). Bite issues result in compression of the jaw joint, its nerves, ligaments and arteries, leading to local and referred pain in other areas. This can affect sleep and wellbeing and contribute to chronic fatigue.
Bite issues. Considering that we chew and swallow 2.000-3.000 times a day, bite issues caused by narrow arches, jaw problems, misalignment and other conditions can have a huge impact on our health. A bad bite would correspond to driving your car through a bumpy road with 2.000-3.000 rocks every single day. It is easy to understand that, unless you have a 4 x 4, this would quickly lead to damage in different parts of the car. Using this analogy, our jaws and muscles are not equipped to absorb such impact caused by a noxious bite, resulting in tension, stress, pain and fatigue.
HOW CAN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT IMPROVE CHRONIC FATIGUE?
After understanding how much a bad bite can affect our body, it is easy to see the value of correcting bite issues.
Medical orthodontics aims at creating a functional bite through:
- Improvement of the position of the teeth in relation to one another
- Expansion of the jaws and improving the space in the mouth, facilitating nose breathing and sleep
- Improvement of the function of the jaw joint
- Relief in muscle tension, bringing harmony to the whole system
Orthodontic treatment can be done through clear aligner therapy, which offer a much better option for adults due to the increased comfort of wearing removable, transparent devices that do not affect daily activities.
If you feel constantly tired without a particular reason, it is a good idea to get your bite checked by your orthodontist.