Distance Bowenwork For Dental Trauma

A client whom I’ve seen in person but have done mostly remote or distance sessions on has a history of dental trauma spanning many years. She has few teeth remaining on her lower left side, with a bridge from her canine back to a rotten molar. In late October the dentist removed the failed two-year-old bridge and scraped some of the decay, but the whole tooth was rotten. He then referred her to a surgeon to remove the rest of the tooth. By about a week post-bridge removal she was back in severe pain due to the rotted and exposed root while she awaited an appointment with the surgeon. 

The infection and pain grew relentlessly. She was on a 100% pureed diet for more than two months. Her balance and stamina suffered due to the relationship between the temporal mandibular joint and the pelvis and feet. Having nothing to bite down on imbalances the body from the atlanto-occipital joint (C1) downward. By mid-December, she was bedridden with pain and dizziness.

Since she had done remote Bowenwork with me before, I set up a “bank” with BRMs and UR/TMJ. (A “bank” allows her to “download” the session when she is sleeping, for example, and to  return to it multiple times.) This approach brought some relief and she could be upright for more time, though she was still weak.

When the root-removal surgery got postponed several weeks due to a blizzard in early December I wondered what to do next. I thought about the Vagus Nerve Procedure for her whole system, as a heart rate reset, and for the trauma as well. (Her heart rate is sometimes non-optimal, according to her doctor.)  And I considered Naval for a reset to the solar center, as all 10 major acupuncture meridians run through it, and her whole body was processing this massive infection.

I checked in with Nancy Pierson regarding my thinking and questions about the frequency of application. She agreed and further suggested Shoulder Release 3 procedure to balance and amplify the cranial rhythm. Nancy learned about this connection from Wisconsin practitioner and instructor-in-training Heather Boyle. Nancy suggested my client could receive Bowenwork pretty frequently given the severity of the infection, though with fewer moves, and that she might also need days off.


So, I made a “Bank #2” with Vagus (using minimal prerequisites this time), plus Shoulder Release 3. My client “downloaded” the session and she reported that it helped her sleep and feel rebalanced.


Next, I made a “Bank #3 with the Naval procedure, again with only minimal prerequisites. When I was performing this, I had an especially visceral experience:

I do remote sessions by standing and moving my hands as I would if there were a physical body present. I started on the first of the four moves around the naval (lower left) and experienced the move as slow going and long, with the tissue “communicating” density and diminished life force. At the lower right – wow, such a difference: Vitality! Her body literally sucked my finger in. I felt her umbilical tissues squeezing my fingertip as it was pulled in. I often get sensations, but this was much stronger than usual. The difference from the right side to the left was marked (the infection was on the left side of the jaw). I could feel how her body wanted this.

Once done, I gave my client a very short summary of what each of the banks held, and suggested she ask her body what it needed before she went to bed. She reported she did this, and then she set the intention for the session to be delivered while she slept. Some nights her body said it wanted nothing, other nights it indicated a particular bank. She felt these remote sessions helped keep her out of the hospital and able to “hang on” until the actual surgery.

She finally had her surgery on December 29th, 2022. I suggested she do Bank #1, with UR/TMJ, before and after surgery to help minimize the misalignment and disruption from surgery.  She told me I was her “lifeline” as she awaited surgery.


Ten days post-surgery the infection was gone, though still a lot of healing to do. The client reported she has been using Bank #1 (BRM’s plus UR/TMJ) frequently to help ease the pain from the procedure and to help her release gripping in reaction to that pain. 


Secondly, with no teeth or bridge on the whole lower left side of her jaw, the imbalance in her pelvis was stark and tricky. “It’s like my right and left sides are two different bodies. I don’t know how to walk anymore!” She found that Bank #2 (Vagus) really helped with this. She also noted that just knowing she had a bank to do at night, helped her manage the pain during the day: “I would hate to see what I would be experiencing without these banks!”

As we talked further, she noted that given the surgery and accompanying pelvic instability, she has lost bladder control. She experienced leakage and getting up multiple times at night. So I made her one more bank: Bladder/Prostate Procedure seemed ideal since it is based on Pelvic Procedure. The first night she did it, she slept through the night without peeing!

This client has more surgery ahead to rebuild a jaw bone and get implants and crowns. We will continue the journey together!

BowenworkDarcy Cunningham