Increasingly, a growing number of chronic headache suffers are finding relief in an unexpected place: their dentist's chair.

According to the National Headache Foundation, more than 45 million Americans suffer from headache pain severe enough to seek help from a physician.

Approximately 28 million suffer from migraine headaches causing an estimated loss of 157 million workdays.

In many cases, this pain is caused by temporomandibular (jaw joint) disorder or TMD, commonly referred to as TMJ. TMD causes migraines and tension headaches, grinding of the teeth, breathing problems and sleep disorders, as well as facial pain, neck, shoulder and back pain, clicking or popping in the jaw and limited jaw movement.

This kind of headache pain, even long-term issues that were previously unresolved, can be alleviated without the use of painkillers thanks to the work of specially trained neuromuscular dentists.

TMD is treatable. First, a specially trained neuromuscular dentist will perform a comprehensive evaluation, including a computer analysis of the patient's jaw muscles, to find the jaw's optimal position.

A jaw-repositioning orthotic, which looks like an athlete's mouth guard, will be used to temporarily maintain this new relaxed position. Patients often report pain they have endured for many years dissipates or goes away entirely in a matter of days.

Finally, a patient can be fitted with crowns and veneers to permanently hold the new painfree jaw position.

According to Duncan, only 5 percent of the world's dentists are trained in neuromuscular dentistry.

For more information and to find a local specially trained neuromuscular dentist, visit www.leading dentists.com.

This story provided by North American Precis Syndicate Inc.