Another aspect of bruxism is that over the past few years it has changed the shape of my face. Whereas once I had a more heart shaped face, with a sloping jawline down to my chin, I have noticed that my jaw is now distinctly more square.
When I clench my jaw in the mirror for Dr Divya, she points out how my right hand side, the side with a full set of teeth, has a much stronger muscle and it is rock solid hard when I touch it clenched, like a taught bicep. “The right side is dominant,” she tells me, “resulting in asymmetry.”
This, we decipher, is because I have probably been subconsciously aware that I have a missing tooth on my left hand side, so the right is now working harder when I grind.
“You’re grinding your teeth, you’re clenching, you’re eroding your teeth, and it’s a muscle. When you use it a lot, it’s only going to get bigger and bigger,” Dr Divya explains. “So not only is it a medical issue, it’s also going to augment the shape of your lower face. One of the benefits of this treatment is that it will create non-surgical jawline slimming too.”
What are the side effects of Botox for teeth grinding?
I ask Dr Divya if this will affect my chewing or speech?
“The Masseter muscle (the main jaw muscle) is a very strong muscle,” she explains. “It’s used for speech but mostly for chewing. You find that for some people who are used to chewing gum on one side more than the other, specifically that side will be bulkier because they’re chewing constantly; that muscle is active. Botox won’t prevent the movement fully.”
However, she does add that with a higher dose, you might find that your chewing ability is weakened. “But with an appropriate dose you’ll find that the bulkiness is reduced and the clenching is a little bit less so if you got headaches when you woke up before, that would be reduced,” Dr Divya says.
It sounds like a more risky procedure than anti-wrinkle Botox I say and wonder, will injecting the Botox into my Masseter muscle affect my smile?
“It will happen if someone incorrectly places the Botox,” Dr Diva warns, highlighting the importance of seeing a medical practitioner for this procedure.
“If the Botox spreads to the neighbouring muscles, or if it was injected too close to those muscles, then, yes, that is a complication that can happen,” she continues. “So we try to keep a safety margin by making sure there’s an imaginary line and we inject below that. Obviously your whole Masseter cannot be treated because of that complication, but you can drastically reduce the strength of it.”
What happened during the treatment?
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