Dr. Allan M. Miller opened his family dental practice in Briarcliff Manor, NY after graduating from NYU in 1977. His practice's focus is to provide patients with superior care with an emphasis on cosmetic dentistry, implant restoration, and headache treatment. Dr. Miller is a longtime Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry (FAGD), an organization dedicated to better patient care through continuing dental education. Below, he shares his experiences with the NTI-tss Plus, the most effective FDA approved, drug-free migraine preventative.

After years of prescribing full-arch traditional night guards for patients with TMJ pain, worn teeth, headaches, and migraines, I began seeking another treatment option. Too many patients wouldn't wear the large night guards and others complained that it made their headaches and TMJ pain worse. I found that when patients clench and grind their teeth while wearing full night guards, they were able to do so with greater intensity, oftentimes leading to increased pain.

Migraine is a complex disease with numerous contributing factors including, dietary triggers, teeth grinding and clenching, and hereditary components. A recent study published in the journal, Neurology, by Dr. Gisela Terwindt of Leiden University has drawn a genetic connection between migraine and depression.

For years, the association between migraines and depression was thought to have been due to the obvious; you regularly suffer from headaches, of course you're depressed. Oftentimes this is the case but your great-grandparents may deserve some of the blame too. Read More...

According to the American Medical Association, more than 18% of women suffer from migraines. This statistic climbs to greater than 22% for pregnant women. Prescription drugs are the most commonly used prevention method. Unfortunately, many pharmaceutical options, such as valproate also present adverse side effects including the increased risk of birth defects.

In February, 2010, the FDA issued a reminder about the heightened risk of neural tube defects in babies exposed in-utero to medications that contain valproate. Valproate therapy, initially devised as a treatment for epilepsy, is frequently used for migraine and bipolar disorder. The average rate of birth defects among US newborns is approximately 1 in 1,500 but children born to mothers that used medications such as Depakote, Depacon, and Stavzor resulted in a birth defect rate of 1 in 20. The rate of neural tube defects in children exposed to valproate during the 1st trimester is approximately 80 times higher than that of the general US population.