I never believed that an oral appliance could ever reduce the amount of migraines a person had.  I am now a true believer.  I had experienced bad migraines most of my life.  When I would start to get one I knew my day was over.  I would try just about everything to make it just go away.  NOTHING worked!  I would have to take a nap, or more less go to bed for the night.  Having three children and a very busy lifestyle we all know that it is impossible to just go to bed at 3 or 5 in the afternoon because you can’t handle noise, light, or any sort of movement.  The migraines took over my life, in a way that I could not function on a daily basis without anticipating I would soon have one. 

     I started working for Dr. Berard in November of 2008.  Soon after we opened I went through all the new patient exam questions with him and when asked if I had headaches or migraines, I told him I have them all the time, horrible ones, to the point of ruining my plans for the day (sometimes for a couple of days).  He told me we could do some TENSing and run the K-7 (computer jaw tracking system) scans on me to check how my facial and neck muscles are.  I was a little nervous, only because I was unsure of the procedures outcome.  Sooner than later, by choice, I was hooked up to the K-7 for some pre-scans and then TENSed for 1 hour.  After the hour of TENSing, he ran the post tensing scans.  We took a few different impressions of where he wanted my bite to be and that was it.  Dr. Berard sent everything out to the lab for them to create the orthotic, which I was going to have to wear all day except when I ate.  I was ok with it only because Dr. Berard said it could reduce my migraines.  I did believe him, after all, I was up for anything that would take these migraines away!!  

    About three weeks later, my orthotic was here!  Can you imagine how very anxious I was?  SO…..  Dr. Berard TENSed me again for another hour, and tried in the orthotic, which fit perfectly to my teeth, with a little adjusting, and was made of hard acrylic material.  It felt a little strange, but like I said, I was up for anything!!  So I wore the orthotic, which did take a little getting used to, for a week or so.  Dr. Berard then asked how I was doing with it.  I thought about it for a minute and replied, “I haven’t had a migraine or even a slight feeling of a headache this whole week.”  As time has gone on, over 3 years, I have had about a handful of headaches, and who doesn’t?  When you have a stressful day, kids are acting crazy, or just in need of that sugar fix!!!  That is about the only time I get one.

      I am now going to be getting all of my upper teeth restored in porcelain so that I do not have to wear the orthotic anymore, because my new porcelain crowns will put my jaw where it was when wearing the orthotic.  We will open my bite just a couple of millimeters.  Can you imagine that my "bite" is what was causing the horrible migraines?  My bite!  About 80% of the population has a misaligned bite, which may cause a variety of issues.  TMD, Migraines and Headaches, and Muscle tension from clenching and grinding are just a few I want to mention.

 

     I have a great deal of appreciation and respect for what Dr. Berard has done for me and have recommended him to many of my friends and family members, and always will.  He understands Nueromuscular Dentistry in a way that I believe no other Doctor in Traverse City does.  The continuing education he has put himself, and us as team members through, is truly remarkable.