Whole Living Guide > by Dylana Accolla
Clicking, Clenching, Popping, and Pain

Facial pain is Barry Mark's specialty, along with clenching, tooth and jaw-related headaches and temporolmandibular joint (TMJ) problems. He is not only a dentist but also a licensed acupuncturist and a homeopath, and he comes armed with plenty of tools in his toolbox to deal with pain and discomfort around the mouth.

In a first session with Mark, a patient undergoes an evaluation, in which Mark checks four major points: the range of motion of the temporomandibular joint, joint sounds, various facial and neck muscles are checked, and any inflammation of the joints. "The temporomandibular joint [TMJ] is the only joint in the body that works together. It's a big part of dentistry," said Mark.

"When I was a young army dentist at the Fort Hood, Texas in the Army Dental Corps, I worked under a dentist named Lieutenant Colonel Brown for two years. His emphasis was on dental occlusion, or how the teeth come together in the mouth. I saw cases of headaches, difficulty chewing, pain with talking, facial pain, stress affecting the teeth or jaw, tightness around the neck and tightness of all the muscles affecting the jaw. These were all clinical problems that were not clearly elaborated on in dental school. I didn't know how to address many of these problems. But Colonel Brown told me that I would be encountering many of these problems in practice so I would well advised to learn how to treat these disorders or refer them out to the appropriate individual."

Clenching and pain can be due to many things, Mark said. Much of it is due to nutritional deficiencies, he added, while some adult clenching can also be due to numerous other factors as well. Parasites can lead to clenching and teeth grinding in children, he said. As an aside he also remarked that the residue of a tetanus vaccine can cause chronic muscular pain in the face and neck. All these factors are taken into account during an evaluation with Mark.

The sounds the jaw makes when the patient opens his mouth are very revealing, Mark noted. Crepitus, a sand-like, crackling noise can indicate arthritic changes in the joint, he said. A click in one or both joints indicates displacement of the cartilage in the joints, which is referred to as an internal derangement. Clicking and popping jaws are now a big part of Mark's practice. "For instance, the patient had pain and used to click in the right jaw joint. Now she doesn't click but her jaw goes to the right with opening. This means the cartilage is out of place and could be indicative of a closed-lock."

A locked jaw is an extremely serious condition, Mark said. If you or someone you know experiences a lock jaw, it should be treated within 24 to 48 hours. "In those cases, I can possibly unlock the jaw with gentle manipulation," Mark said. "If they come six months later, there's a very strong possibility that the disc could not be properly repositioned."

If you have jaw pain, don't be surprised if you walk out of Mark's office with a bottle of enzymes and the directive to increase the intake of protein. In terms of jaw clenching and pain, Mark insisted that much jaw clenching can be alleviated nutritionally. For example, he said that women suffer from more non-trauma facial pain and said that he believes that this is related to the fact that many women are protein deficient. In this regard, Mark is strongly influenced by the research and theories of Howard Loomis, DC (chiropractor), the developer of Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT). Loomis holds that certain painful reflexes in the body indicate enzyme deficiencies that lead to predictable constellations of symptoms. In his practice Mark uses Loomis' diagnostic protocols of palpation, blood and urine analysis to locate visceral and somatic (body) reflexes (tender areas) that indicate imbalances within the body and ultimately, jaw, head, or tooth pain.

But the problem becomes even more widespread, Mark explained. "If you're protein deficient, you're also calcium deficient," he added, "which could lead to an array of problems, such as possible spinal disc problems, an intolerance to stress, or irritated or receding gums." Mark therefore also deals with patients' diets and ascertains whether they can adequately digest food by testing with kinesiology and bio-energetics. Remedies could include changing one's diet and taking plant-based enzyme supplements to address the underlying imbalance.

Another influence in Mark's practice is the work of the German doctor, Reinhold Voll. In his research, Dr. Voll found that every tooth relates to different organs and tissues within the body. For example, the canine tooth was found to be related to the eye, liver, and gall bladder, and the front teeth to the bladder and reproductive organs. So if, for example, a woman were to have a root canal in one of her front teeth, that tooth could possibly affect her ovary or uterus and could even be the underlying problem in those organs. This dynamic is a two-way street, in that problems in the organs affect the teeth, and problems in the teeth affect the organs. Mark feels that when dental work is done on specific teeth the underlying organ needs to be supported as well.

Mark also removes mercury filling. "For years I tried a number of different products," he said. "Now I'm using an oral chelating spray that is beneficial for mercury toxicity. With removing mercury fillings we're mainly concerned with liver and kidney involvement. NAET, the Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique therapy that his wife, Carol Kessler does, is a way to deal with toxicity as well, he said.

Clearly Mark is a dentist who, along with Tischler and Milton, is clearly on the front lines of this movement of dentists becoming healers. He likes to say his is a many-optioned clinic. I like to think we're lucky to have these guys around.

Barry Mark, DDS
187 Pine Street, Kingston
(845) 334-9340.