Botox is a remedy for reducing fine lines and wrinkles in cosmetics. Botox has found a place outside cosmetic treatments in other health-related sectors, namely dentistry. Dentists and dental surgeons use Botox to help patients with various mouth-related conditions.
Dental practitioners choose Botox because it allows them to positively change a patient’s oral health using a minimally invasive procedure. These injections are typically safe, quick, and somewhat painless. Furthermore, results are long-lasting because patients can wait a few months before undergoing more injections.
Botox corrects muscle-related conditions by attaching to the nerve endings of motor muscles and blocking the release of acetylcholine. This neurotransmitter sends chemical messages throughout the nerve cells. This lack of acetylcholine causes the muscles to relax.
The procedure can also help address a gummy smile, which exposes many of the person’s gums. Before Botox treatments, patients underwent a gingivectomy or had the crown of their teeth lengthened. However, dentists can now inject Botox into the mouth to relax the upper lid, which causes less gum exposure.
Dental patients having problems getting comfortable wearing new dentures might also get Botox treatments. Botox’s ability to relax the muscles allows patients to adjust quickly to the form and fit of the dentures. Incidentally, changes in the mouth do so gradually, while putting dentures in requires the mouth to adapt quickly, making it uncomfortable for patients to wear them.
Additionally, when a person is missing teeth, it causes the lip to reposition itself. Without support from the teeth, the lips appear to sit funny along the gum line because of a lack of vertical dimension. In addition to relaxing muscles, Botox retrains the mouth muscles so that dentures fit comfortably.
Botox also helps patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) or bruxism issues, commonly called grinding/clenching one’s teeth. Grinding one’s teeth can cause severe oral problems down the road. However, Botox injections are one way to get the muscles and joints in the mouth that cause a person to grind their teeth to relax. Patients who opt for Botox might see their inclination to grind their teeth reduced for up to four months.
Also, Botox relieves patients with tension-type headaches (TTH). These headaches can be debilitating for the person who experiences them. However, injecting Botox into the masseter muscle (located on the mandible) showed positive impacts in reducing the frequency and intensity of TTH headaches, according to a March 2023 study published in the dental publication Today’s RDH. In this instance, Botox is an alternative to daily analgesic drug therapy.
Caused by neurological conditions, excessive salivary flow (drooling) can cause tooth decay, oral infections, and peri-oral skin infections, which also can be addressed using Botox injections. Dentists can help patients reduce the amount of saliva that flows into the mouth by using Botox injections in the parotid and submandibular glands to interfere with the stimulation of salivary glands. These treatments last three months.
Finally, dentists rely on Botox injections for patients who experience spasms in the mouth, jaw, tongue, and lower mouth. These spasms are most often associated with TMJ pain and oral injury. In this instance, Botox has been the first line of treatment for spasms since 1989.
