The way you chew, breathe, and swallow influences the balance of your teeth, muscles, and joints. RNO looks at that whole system, not just the tooth that hurts.
When both sides work in balance, teeth, muscles, and joints share the effort. When one side does almost everything, the body adapts, and sometimes it pays a price.
The comparison
Like training only one arm.
If you always trained the same arm, your body would become asymmetric. Something similar happens with chewing: the side that works harder adapts one way, and the other side another.
The goal
Balance for life.
The focus is function: restoring balance to chewing, following growth in children and adaptation in adults.
what I look at
Three things we all do every day, without noticing.
Chewing, breathing, and swallowing. These are what I look at first, in adults and in children.
i. chewing
Both sides, or just one?
I look at whether both sides work or whether one of them carries more. Always chewing on the same side is like training only one arm: one side gets overloaded and the other weakens.
Both sides share the work of chewing.
ii. breathing
Through the nose, with the mouth closed?
I notice where the air comes in: through the nose with the mouth closed, or through the mouth, especially at night. In children, this goes hand in hand with the growth of the face and teeth.
Air comes in through the nose, with the lips closed.
roof of the mouthtongue
iii. swallowing
Where does the tongue rest?
I look at where the tongue sits and how you swallow. With the tongue resting on the roof of the mouth, the teeth and jaws have room to settle; when it sits low, the whole system adapts.
The tongue rests on the roof of the mouth, just behind the front teeth.
The diagram
Protect the tooth and look at the cause.
A night guard has an important role: protecting the teeth from wear. In the way I work, the next step is understanding why that force is there.
The night guard protects the teeth. I also try to understand what is behind it.
How I usually explain it
Protect the toothThe guard takes the friction instead of the teeth.Balance the functionBoth sides go back to sharing the work.
Two kinds of care that complete each other
The video
In under a minute, in my own voice.
I recorded short videos to explain each topic. This one is about looking at the cause.
Neuro-Occlusal Rehabilitation grew out of the work of Spanish dentist Pedro Planas, who studied how chewing stimulates the growth and balance of the face. It is part of the field of Functional Jaw Orthopedics.
Research on RNO is promising and continues to grow. That is why I speak of balance and follow-up, never of promised results. Each person responds differently, and it is at the evaluation that we understand your case.
Want to know if it makes sense for you?
Talk to my assistant. It explains things in general terms and helps you book an evaluation in São Paulo.
