Medicare Can Save Billions of Dollars By Reducing Falls And Related Hospitalizations.

    GURNEE, IL, March 27, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- THE RISK OF FALLING IS A MAJOR CONCERN FOR OLDER ADULTS BUT FALLING IS APPARENTLY A PROBLEM AT ALL AGES. A recent article in Science Daily reported on the incidence of falls and a newly developed Comprehensive Screening Test for Falling Risk.

PUBMED lists over 880 articles when "cost" and "falls" are entered as keywords.

Neuromuscular Dentistry can lower the risk of dangerous falls. The question is whether Neuromuscular Dentistry can save medicare billions of dollars and pay for the recently passed health bill that President Obama signed into law? According to an article in Science Daily 40% of all senior hospital admissions are related to falls. If neuromuscular dental appliances could reduce falls by only 10% it would save medicare tens of billions of dollars and prevent deterioration to the quality of seniors lives.

Neuromuscular Dentistry is based on the work of Dr Barney Jankelson who applied physiological measurements to dentistry. His work has resulted in help for patients with migraines, tension headaches and TMJ disorders (http://www.ihateheadaches.org). It is also extremely effective in helping balance and postural issues.

The New Orleans Saints utilized Neuromuscular Dentistry to help win the Superbowl. The PPM Mouthguard or Pure Power Mouthguard was developed by Neuromuscular Dentist Anil Makkar to improve physical performance including balance strength and flexibility. A Rutger's Study confirmed these effects.

The Pure Power Mouthpiece mproves balance in athletes but can proper application of Neuromuscular Dentistry do the same for seniors or other patients with balance problems? If the number of falls could be reduced even 10% the savings to Medicare would be astronomical and could reduce or eliminate the forecasted budget shortfalls. An explanation of the science behind Neuromuscular Dentistry can be found in Sleep and Health Journal at http://www.sleepandhealth.com/neuromuscular-dentistry

ICCMO, the International College of CranioMandibular Orthopedics is the professional association that consists of medical professionals (pimarily dentists) who are trained in Neuromuscular Dentistry and in correcting the physiology of the stomatognathic and trigeminal systems. Neuromuscular Dentistry primarily addresses the health of the Trigeminal Nerve that accounts for over 50% of the total input to the brain. The trigemono-vascular system is a primary agent of almost all chronic headaches including Migraines,Chronic Daily Headaches, Tension-Type Headaches, Episodic Tension-Type Headaches, Sinus Pain, TMD, Retroorbital Headaches, Morning headaches, Facial Pain and other common pain syndromes.

An excellent article on Neuromuscular Dentistry originally published by the American Equilibration Society (AES) is available at Sleep and Health Journal http://www.sleepandhealth.com/neuromuscular-dentistry another article in Sleep and Health "SUFFER NO MORE: DEALING WITH THE GREAT IMPOSTER" discusses how TMJ disorders (TMD) can effect patients lives. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the NIH issued a report on "CARDIOVASCULAR AND SLEEP RELATED CONSEQUENCES OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR DISORDERS".

The NIH has numerous studies on alternative medicine techniques. I believe that the NIH should evaluate the Rutger's study and use it as a template for a study addressing balance and avoidance of falls universally but especially in seniors. Forward head posture increases problems with balance and can be addressed by orthopedic correction of mandibular position utilizing diagnostic neuromuscular orthotics. Unfortunately the NICDR, The National Institute of Dental and Cranial Research of the NIH has focused most of its attention on the psychological aspects of TMJ disorders and ignored the underlying physiology. The research that is funded by the NICDR focuses on drug treatments that are more easily studied and meet current criteria of "evidence based medicine" The NHLBI is less influenced by dental politics.

While research based on occlusal concepts has lost favor at the NIH a recent study by The University of Chicago on NUCCA Chiropractic adjustments lowering blood pressure was groundbreaking. Correction of underlying Neuromuscular Dental issues makes NUCCA adjustments much more stable allowing permanent postural corrections. Forward head posture is closely related to both airway issues and the neuromuscular position and vertical dimension of the jaws.

An article published by Dr Barry Cooper in CRANIO Journal showed that Neuromuscular Dentistry was "overwhelmingly successful" in treating TMJ disorders. If the problem of falls could be answered for only 10% of patients it would answer all funding problems for Medicare for many years and Neuromuscular Dentistry and Dental Sleep Medicine have the potential of making national healthcare a economic success. Another article in CRANIO by Shimshak et al showed that patients with a diagnosis of TMJ disorders had a 300% increase in medical costs across all field of medicine.

If the promise of Neuromuscular Dentistry could be fulfilled it could also drastically cut medical costs for patients of all ages. Dr Norman Thomas is the world's leading expert on Neuromuscular Dentistry. Dr Thomas has recently taken over as the head of research and education for Neuromuscular Dentistry at the prestigious Las Vegas Institute. LVI is the world's leading educator in Neuromuscular Dentistry.

Dr Ira L Shapira is an author and section editor of Sleep and Health Journal, President of I HATE CPAP LLC, President Dato-TECH, and has a Dental Practice in Gurnee, Illinois with his partner Dr Mark Amidei. Dr Shapira recently formed Chicagoland Dental Sleep Medicine Associates. He is a Regent of ICCMO and its representative to the TMD Alliance, He was a founding and certified member of the Sleep Disorder Dental Society which became the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, A founding member of DOSA the Dental Organization for Sleep Apnea. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine, A Diplomat of the American Academy of Pain Management, a graduate of LVI. He is a former assistant professor at Rush Medical School's Sleep Service where he worked with Dr Rosalind Cartwright who is a founder of Sleep Medicine and Dental Sleep Medicine. Dr Shapira is a consultant to numerous sleep centers and teaches courses in Dental Sleep Medicine in his office to doctors from around the U.S. He is the Founder of I HATE CPAP LLC and http://www.ihatecpap.com Dr Shapira also holds several patents on methods and devices for the prophylactic minimally invasive early removal of wisdom teeth and collection of bone marrow and stem cells. Dr Shapira is a licensed general dentist in Illinois and Wisconsin.

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