Hi, I have a dental (malocclusion) problem that started about five years ago. Basically, my upper and lower teeth don't touch - except for the last two ones on each side. It's called "open bite". It started to happen in 1999. (I'm 34 now).

I've seen over ten orthodontists, and they have a lot of trouble believing that I wasn't born this way. I can prove, however, that my "bite" was normal until I started an advertising agency (and getting totally stressed out) five years ago - so please just take my word for it for the time being. Anyway, the orthodontists don't know what to do, short of facial surgery or something very drastic, which I really want to avoid. Braces (three years of them!) would be the very least they would recommend.

I recently read about TMJ RESET - the Rafferty technique. Although an MRI and a CAT scan showed my temporo-mandibular joints (TMJs) to be OK, I still feel that it's somehow connected.

Does anyone know about TMJ RESET/Rafferty? Is there a specific community to discuss it? Thanks in advance for your help. Rick.

Rick, when I taught a workshop in Chicago a few years ago there was a woman who received a session for her neck pain. The result astounded her because the energy not only helped her neck, but moved and caused her whole jaw to reset so she could touch her teeth together for the first time in her adult life. She was so excited; she demonstrated her new ability to the entire room as she griped a piece of paper with her teeth and pull with her hand to rip the page. (Abusive parents had broken her jaw as a child).

Although we cannot predict the outcome of QT sessions, it is still nice to know that this can happen.

Hi Rick. I don't know about Rafferty's TMJ reset, but I do know about open bites, because I had one until recently - (mine's almost completely closed) I'm 46. Don't believe the dentists when they say you need braces or surgery to correct an open bite, as many have closed it with simple tongue exercises. I don't know where you live - but there is a myofunctional therapist in the La Mesa, CA area named Katha Phair, who is the best. If she's not accessible to you, maybe you could get a recommendation. A myofunctional therapist is someone who works with your tongue to correct your swallowing. You probably have a tongue thrust problem, i.e. you push your tongue between your teeth when you speak or swallow,( keeping the teeth apart) instead of at the roof of your mouth . If you call her, she can send photos of people whose bites she has closed. Also, you could be a mouth breather instead of a nose breather, which causes your your jaw muscles to slacken. Most people think the tongue is not that powerful, but actually, it is one of the most powerful muscles in your body, and has the power to reshape your palatal arch. Also, when you sleep at night, I would tape your mouth shut (I know it sounds drastic, but you can try it) because while you sleep, you tend to let your tongue lie in your mouth, instead of keeping it at the roof of your mouth, which is where it should be. I agree with Richard that your neck should be worked on, as neck alignment is critical to proper occlusion. Last but not least, I've worked with Alain (who is wonderful) to actually grow my upper jaw, so these are some options to investigate. Love and blessings, Deb
P.S. Another thought - you mentioned that you didn't have this problem before 1999. I would read Serge King's book - Instant Healing. He has an exercise where you can go back in time and rewrite history, so to speak.

I wonder if Rick ever got the help he needed? I have had open bite ever since I was about 12. I have had braces twice. The orthodontists believed that I had a tongue thrust so they added these awful metal rakes to the back of my upper teeth to keep my tongue back (it would get poked by these spikes ever time it ventured forward). I went to an orofacial myologist in Denver who gave me a lot of ridiculous exercises which I adhered to and made no progress from. I believe my open bite happened due to the orthodontists putting all kinds of elastics between my upper and lower teeth to "correct" what they claimed was a "problem" that would develop into cross-bite if not addressed. I believe it affected my jaw muscles to the extent where now my teeth come together so that only my back teeth come together and I must sleep with a retainer and still experience terrible pain in my jaw muscles and head sometimes.

People who have TMJ or other bite-related issues should seriously consider seeing a chiropractor. There's a LOT they can do to put a jaw into proper alignment. They don't just do spines.