Vertigo attributable to dental and temporomandibular joint causes

Abstract

1. An 8 year study of 105 patients with vertigo indicates that a surprisingly high percentage of vertigo associated ocular and vagal symptoms are caused by dental occlusal and temporomandibular joint abnormalities which irritate and injure the adjacent structures of the ears. 2. The symptoms of these patients included pain, blurring of vision, dizziness, staggering gait, light-headedness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, blackouts, and loss of consciousness. These symptoms had resulted in previous inadequate diagnoses of Meniere's disease, brain tumor, brain degeneration, hypertension, athersclerosis, cholecystitis, abdominal epilepsy, and psychoneuroses. 3. Dental treatment that established a harmonious dental occlusion and nonpathogenic relationships of the temporomandibular joints, with the adjacent structures of the ear, resulted in complete relief of vertigo and associated symptoms in 89 per cent of the patients.