Vertigo Attributable to Dental and Temporomandibular Joint Causes
When Vertigo and Dizziness Have a Dental Cause — What a 1964 Landmark Study Found
If you have been diagnosed with vertigo, Meniere’s disease, or unexplained dizziness — and standard neurological and ENT evaluation has not produced a clear answer — the connection between jaw position and the vestibular system deserves serious consideration.
The following is the abstract of a landmark peer-reviewed paper published in the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry in 1964. In an 8-year study of 105 patients with vertigo, the authors found that a surprisingly high percentage of vertigo symptoms were caused by dental occlusal and temporomandibular joint abnormalities — and that dental treatment establishing harmonious occlusion resulted in complete relief of symptoms in 89 percent of patients.
This finding was published over sixty years ago. It remains one of the most important documented connections between jaw position and the vestibular system in the dental literature.
Vertigo attributable to dental and temporomandibular joint causes
Herbert T. Kelly, M.D., F.A.C.P., David J. Goodfriend, D.D.S, The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, Volume 14, Issue 1, January–February 1964, Pages 159–173
The Study — Kelly and Goodfriend, Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, 1964
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.
Read the Full Paper
Read the Full Paper — ScienceDirect →
Continue Learning
🔹 Related Symptoms and Conditions
- Tinnitus (Ringing in the Ears) →
- Ear Congestion Feelings →
- Pain Behind the Eyes: Retro Orbital Pain →
- Tongue Posture and Abnormal Swallowing Patterns →
- Airway Restrictions →
- The Patient Whose Neck Won’t Settle After Dental Work →
🔹 Understanding TMD
- Educating Yourself About TMJ →
- Anatomy of the Temporomandibular Joint →
- Over Closed Bites — TMD Class II Division 2 Type Problems →
- Degenerative Joint Disease: Clinical Considerations →
- Limited Mouth Opening Problems →
- Postural Alignment: Chan’s Dental Model →
🔹 The GNM Solution
- GNM Orthotic Effectiveness in Treatment →
- Why TMJ Splints and Night Guards Fail — And What Dentists Are Missing →
- How GNM Clinicians Think — Anatomy, Mechanism, Symptom, Differential, Solution →
- The Trained Pattern: Why Good Dentists Miss What K7 Would Show Them →
🔹 Find a GNM-Trained Dentist
Clayton A. Chan, D.D.S. — Founder and Director, Occlusion Connections | Las Vegas, Nevada
