The interrelationship of stress and degenerative diseases.

The following hypothesis has been proposed: Stressors--environmental and/or nutritional--can cause functional disorders. Functional disorders are abnormal neurology, endocrinology, and kinesiology without underlying organic pathology. The malfunction of these three systems is a major factor in the pathogenesis of systemic and dental degenerative diseases. Dental structural aberrations (malocclusion) can be perceived by the brain as major, 24-hour-a-day stressor agents, thus adding substantially to the total distress of the patient. In this manner, malocclusion becomes a significant factor in the pathogenesis of degenerative diseases. Under this hypothesis, malocclusion is the result of functional disorders, not genetics. Treatment of the entire patient cannot be overemphasized. The following suggestions can be made: 1. Conventional dental restorative treatment should be supplemented with nutritional therapy to eliminate nutrition as a distress agent. 2. Dental pathosis should be eliminated for optimum systemic health as well as preservation of the dentition.