Botox

In our office we do Botox treatments for both cosmetic purposes as well as TMJ pain. This is a change from several years ago when the dental board did not allow cosmetic.

Botox Injections for Treatment of TMJ Talking Points

One cause of TMJ is when the muscles associates with the jaw – the masseter and the temporalis, become inflamed and tighten putting pressure on your jaw joint.  The main cause could stem from several reasons: stress, grinding/clenching teeth, teeth placement being misaligned.  The trapezius muscle can also be impacted from years of untreated TMJ, causing pain down the neck and radiating towards the shoulder blade.   Traditionally, TMJ is treated with a bite-guard, which allows the patient to relax those muscles overnight.

Why Botox: Some patients are not compliant with nightguards – a comfort issue, a high gag reflux, other medical issues that warrant nighttime appliances (CPAP), braces, etc.   Botox offers a non-appliance dependent option for treatment of TMJ.  Once the muscle is in a relaxed state, generally no further treatment is needed.   Because Botox is working around the clock in our bodies, the results are often faster than a nightguard.

How it works: Botox is injected directly into the muscle, blocking signals from the nerve for the muscle to move.  When the muscle movement is limited, the muscle is forced to relax over time.   Once the masseter and temporalis muscles relax the patient should experience relief from TMJ including looser jaw muscles, less headaches, increased jaw range of motion, less clicking and popping when opening and closing mouth.

How long does it take to go in to effect: Botox treatment is not an immediate fix for TMJ.  Patients can start to feel the effects of the Botox anywhere from 2-10 days post injection.   Generally, patients will slowly start to notice over the next 2-3 months the change in their symptoms (headaches, motion, etc.).  Remember in some cases patients have been building up TMJ symptoms for years, years of clinching these muscles, it can take a while for these muscles to retrain in a relaxed state.

Added treatment – dry needling:  Sometimes the trapezius muscle trigger points will require additional treatment to allow the muscle to return to a relaxed state.  Dry needling is where a needle is inserted into a trigger point along the muscle to help break up the fibers causing the trigger point.  Our dentist provides some numbing agent along with Botox to help ease the pain and offer immediate relief.