Bruxism or grinding teeth often occurs when you don’t know about it, ie. when you are sleeping. We have found that anti-wrinkle injections improve bruxism in most cases and are an inexpensive treatment to try.
Not everyone gets all of the problems associated with bruxism, but for some, the problems can be severe, debilitating, and lasting many years.
Grinding and clenching of the back teeth lead not only to dental problems but the difficulty to treat the problem of arthritis of the temporomandibular joint ( TMJ dysfunction ).
TMJ dysfunction can be experienced as ear pain or chronic headache.
The continual clenching of the masseter muscle can lead to masseteric hypertrophy which is seen as a very “blocky” square-looking jaw.
Treatment in the past has been using a nighttime dental splint, which for many people has made sleeping and other activities, difficult.
I have found anti-wrinkle injections directly into the masseter muscle have a much higher acceptance than using nighttime splints and women particularly like the feminizing effect on their jawline. I suggest a modest dose initially with review 4-6 weeks later and an anti-wrinkle top-up then, if indicated. I find that treatment episodes of anti-wrinkle injections for bruxism remain effective for a long time. At the time of treatment, I tell patients that they may notice that their bite is not as strong and that chewing meat may be more difficult, but the feedback I have had to date is that this is not a problem. The reason that the bite is not as strong is that the anti-wrinkle injection weakens the muscle, which both starts feedback to reduce teeth grinding and also puts less damaging force through the TMJ joint.
Though anti-wrinkle injections for bruxism does not have a guaranteed outcome, I have found that anti-wrinkle injections improve bruxism in most cases and is an inexpensive treatment, additionally, I would suggest trying this treatment as soon as possible, to reduce irreversible damage to the TMJ joint and of course look at pursuing a hobby, exercise or meditation to manage the stress and anxiety which led to teeth grinding in the first place. Call on 3667 8970 to make an appointment for anti-wrinkle injections to reduce the pain of bruxism.