Grinding your teeth when not eating food is referred to in the dental community as bruxism. Constant grinding and clenching can cause your teeth to wear down over time. This can result in your teeth becoming shorter and prone to breakage. In addition to damaging the teeth themselves, you can develop face pain, jaw stiffness, headaches, insomnia, or depression as a result of bruxism. When your jaw is tense most of the day and night, it will undoubtedly create a multitude of further issues.

Man with mouthguardOften, the treatment for bruxism includes mouth guards, medications, stress management, and physical therapy. If first-line therapies such as mouth guards and stress management are not effective, Botox treatments, due to the nature of how they work to relax muscles, can make a significant difference in relief from your teeth grinding symptoms.

To treat teeth grinding, Botox can be injected into the masseter muscles, which are the muscles that run down the cheek and are responsible for chewing. Muscle contractions will be decreased in order to create less tension in the jaw. When these muscles are relaxed, bruxism will improve, and the side effects from grinding will begin to abate.

The procedure itself will only take a short time, causes only very minor discomfort which can be relieved with an ice pack, and the results will become clear in as little as several days to a week. Although not a permanent remedy, relief in symptoms caused by teeth grinding can last up to three months after Botox injections.  Once symptoms return, treatment will need to be repeated.

If you or a loved one suffers from pain and complications resulting from teeth grinding, contact us to learn more about how Botox might be the answer.