Joey Barton’s bizarre claim that Kevin de Bruyne’s dental work is to blame for his injury woes at Manchester City has been dismissed by a leading dentist. The former City and Newcastle midfielder made the wild declaration on his podcast, ‘Common Sense with Joey Barton‘.
De Bruyne, 33, was last on the treatment table in October of this season after he was kept out of action due to a hamstring issue. However, he did miss a hefty chunk of last season through injury.
Barton, without any apparent expertise in dentistry or medicine, argued that the Belgian star’s troubles are linked to dental procedures.
“When you get your teeth done, your body compensates for your mouth. You sleep, you run, your body compensates for your mouth,” Barton, 42, said on his podcast.
“You get the teeth done and it realigns your bite. Once you realign your bite starts to offset your spine, your spinal column and spinal cord and before you know it, a domino effect goes down your spine, causing a chain reaction into your soft tissue.
“Before you know it, your body starts coming apart. Kevin De Bruyne’s problem at Manchester City was getting his f*****g teeth done. Every player I see gets their teeth done in a short period of time? Soft tissue injuries start happening further down the chain.”
Dr Gizem Seymenoglu, a GDC (General Dental Council) registered dentist at Longevita Dental, has weighed in on the debate about De Bruyne’s teeth, dismissing claims that his dental work could cause injury or alter his bite, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Dr Gizem said: “I don’t agree with what Joey had to say about Kevin’s teeth. His results actually seem quite nice. It looks like he’s had a minimally invasive treatment, more like veneers on his front six teeth, while the posterior teeth were likely whitened.
“The only thing we can confidently say by looking at his older photos is that his teeth looked inwardly inclined, so he possibly had a narrower bite, but that alone wouldn’t cause any problems in his physicality.”
Moreover, Dr Gizem noted that De Bruyne’s previous dental condition might have been improved by the treatments.
“In fact, his older teeth looked quite worn down, and by increasing their height through restorations, he could have actually improved the functionality and effectiveness of his bite,” she said. “As can be seen now, his teeth appear more upright and have a more forward inclination.”
Finally, Dr Gizem addressed the broader question of whether dental misalignment could lead to physical ailments. “Let’s say we change a patient’s bite by raising it,” she said.
“Creating a bite outside the patient’s physiological limits will result in pain in the joints and muscles. There will be a functional disorder – the patient won’t be able to chew or speak properly. Also, their teeth will hit against each other, and it will become harder for them to pronounce certain words while talking.
“But the thing in Kevin’s case is that we simply cannot tell if he had a problem before or if he has a problem now. We’ve heard him speak recently, and to me, he sounds like he used to.”
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