19 Feb Botox as a treatment for bruxism
Bruxism is the involuntary habit of clenching or grinding the teeth without functional purposes; and it affects, to a lesser or greater degree, between 10% and 20% of the population.
Our levels of anxiety, the accumulated tension day by day, can be focused on our jaw. We continually clench the jaw as one of the most common side effects of stress.
In addition to abrading teeth, it causes pain in the muscles of the ear, neck and jaw; as well as headache. We can also talk about an ATM dysfunction (temporomandibular joint). The special overload in the masseter muscle causes them to develop too much and we feel the jaw very tight and tired. In addition, bruxism causes us to prematurely develop wrinkles in the neck, disproportion in the facial structure and very sharp pains in the area.
An effective solution is to inject botox (botulinum toxin) directly into the muscle in order to relieve pressure. Although severe cases of bruxism may require up to 35 units, it is usual to use between 18 and 24 units of Botox on each side, which we distribute evenly after applying local topical anesthesia to reduce discomfort. It does not hurt, you almost do not feel the prick and in fifteen days the muscle loses strength and size. Even at the moment you feel a relief that spreads across your face and neck.
What Botox does is paralyze the masseter muscle and thus decrease its activity
It is a technique that usually does not present contraindications or side effects, except sometimes a slight sensation of pain and a possible micro-hematoma of short duration, perfectly correctable with makeup.
Therefore, botox is a very effective treatment against bruxism, although it surprises us, because we have the image that it is an aesthetic treatment that only serves to beautify.
At Blasi Clínica Dental Barcelona, our oral and maxillofacial surgeon is a specialist in this type of treatment and we are seeing very promising results in our patients.