I’ve been a hardcore bruxist for most of my adult life, which is why I recently tried Botox for teeth grinding rather than for relaxing wrinkles.
I frequently spend periods of my sleeping hours grinding my teeth and clenching my jaw and it always flares up during periods of stress.
However, as bruxism is, in my case and most cases, a nocturnal activity, I have no control over it, and I am rarely aware that I am doing it, waking only in the morning with a tight, tense and tender jaw and often an accompanying headache.
Occasionally, I will wake myself up if I am grinding or clenching particularly aggressively.
In 2018, due to a particularly stressful period at my old workplace, it became so bad that I split a tooth (my third molar on the left hand side), resulting in excruciating pain and the immediate extraction of said tooth.
Since then I have worn bespoke gum shields from the dentist while I sleep, which have thus far protected my teeth from further damage. But despite attempts to control it through practices such as meditation before bed and breathing exercises, my bruxism still regularly flares up.
So can Botox for teeth grinding really work?
What is bruxism?
Bruxism is a condition where you grind, gnash or clench your teeth. According to the Bruxism Association, around 8-10% of the UK population suffers from the condition, which can be classified into awake bruxism and asleep bruxism.
Nearly 80% of bruxism episodes occur in clusters during sleep and a recent study revealed that women are 22% more likely than men to suffer from bruxism. It is also on the rise, with a 2021 report claiming that people were suffering more from bruxism due to the stress of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The condition is usually caused by stress and anxiety, but bruixism can also be caused by other sleep disorders such as snoring or sleep apnoea. Alcohol, caffeine and drugs can also affect it and I do notice that if I’ve consumed a lot of alcohol before bed, it can induce an episode.
How does Botox for teeth grinding work?
I visit Dr Divya Veluvolu, who has practices in Harley Street, Knightsbridge and Birmingham and whom I have seen in the past for aesthetic Botox to reduce wrinkles on my face. Dr Divya explains that unlike Botox as an anti-wrinkle treatment, this will be a medical treatment.
“We use Botox, as you know, as an anti-wrinkle treatment and that’s the aesthetic use of Botox," she tells me. “But in this case, it is being used to treat a medical concern. The Botox injection will go deep into the muscle and reduce the muscle bulk, which means that the muscle is reduced in strength. So when you do bite down or clench your jaw, the strength of that bite is reduced.”
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?
After applying a topical numbing cream (Lidocaine anaesthetic) to the area, I had three injections (a total of 75 units of Botox) on both sides of my jaw, which went deep into my Masseter muscle.
It hurt more than anti-wrinkle injections and Dr Divya went deeper into the muscle on the right hand side, the side that I use more. The whole process took no longer than 10 minutes. It was sore in the area for about 48 hours afterwards, but I didn’t notice any significant change in my ability to move the jaw and it certainly didn’t affect my eating or talking.
I returned to Dr Divya three weeks later for a check up and had one further injection in my right Masseter, the more dominant side, so that it was symmetrical and this muscle was slightly more restricted than the left hand side.
Does it work? My verdict, yes I would recommend it.
My Masseter muscles were very tender and sore for about two days following the treatment – a marked difference to when I have Botox for wrinkles, for which there are very few after effects.
There was no bruising, however (something that can happen with Botox for wrinkles), but when I moved my jaw it did feel a bit more restricted in movement, which took a while to get used to.
As my bruxism happens during sleeping hours, it is of course difficult to monitor whether the treatment has had much impact. However, in the weeks since visiting Dr Divya, I have not woken up with a tension headache and while there have been mornings when I wake up aware that I have been grinding or clenching, the tension is definitely reduced.
I have also noticed that my face shape has reverted back to how it used to be and the square jaw-line has dramatically reduced, which is an unexpected bonus. I visit the hygienist about 6 weeks after the treatment and she tells me that she can tell that there is no fresh or recent enamel erosion, which is a good sign.
However, as with all Botox, the treatment will wear off in four to six months. I will definitely return for a second treatment.
How much does it cost?
A consultation, treatment and follow up with Dr Divya Veluvolu costs £450.
This article was originally published on Glamour UK.
