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Underbite

Do many other migraine sufferers have a bad bite or an underbite? I have had migraine halos since I was a teenager, but never had the headaches. About 2 years ago, I had invisalign and it made my underbite worse than it already was. I had what I thought at the time were very bad flus, but now know are migraines. Each time I spent 2-3 days at home with headache, constant nausea, vomiting, and sound/light sensitivity. These got progressively worse, and it took me about 6 months to relate them to the invisalign.

My invisalign dentist really did not know what to do about this. I stopped the invisalign but the migraines stayed and so did my increased underbite.

I ended up finding a TMJ/headache dentist. He showed me that not only did I have an underbite, but my bite alignment was off. We're working on permanently moving my jaw forward and getting proper jaw alignment using a dental appliance. (This is different than surgery, since the problem was that my jaw was pressing on my trigeminal nerve. The goal is to move the back of the jaw away from the trigeminal nerves at the sides of the face.) I was up to having migraines about 50% of the time, and it was making my life unlivable. I've been wearing my dental appliance for 7 months now. This seems to be working, knock wood. I was down to zero migraines last month. I don't know how common this is, but it sounds like jaw/bite problems can cause migraines.

  1. Hi Solsa55,

    Thanks for your post. So sorry to hear about your experience with Invisalign. however it is great to hear that you found a specialist and are experiencing some reprieve from your migraines. I thought you would be interested in the following articles - https://migraine.com/blog/tmj-migraine-clenching-your-way-to-a-migraine/, https://migraine.com/blog/trying-the-nti-device-for-tmj-pain-and-prevention/, https://migraine.com/blog/update-on-nti-device-for-tmj-discomfort/. They discuss the relationship between jaw pain/tension and chronic migraine. Also, the following articles provide self care tips for managing symptoms while in the midst of an attack - https://migraine.com/blog/community-thoughts-crazy-things-help/, https://migraine.com/blog/a-list-call-for-creature-comforts/, https://migraine.com/blog/community-responses-what-are-your-go-to-techniques-that-bring-you-comfort/. I thought you would find something helpful in there as well! Wishing you all the best today. And please continue to reach out when needed. We love hearing from you.

    Warmly,

    Meaghan (Migraine.com Team)

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