Healthy teeth and gums play vital roles in long-term dental health, but it’s easy to overlook the role of your jaws, in which they rest. Consisting of the upper (maxilla) and lower (mandible) jaws, these powerful bones also have two hinges in the joints, making rotation and sliding possible to enable chewing, speaking, and facial expressions.
The temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, makes much of this jaw movement possible, and disorders affecting it can affect proper function and cause symptoms in other parts of your head. To mitigate the problems this can cause, Botox® therapy provides an effective solution. Let’s examine how it helps and explore the procedure itself.
Dr. Adam Nusblatt and the experienced staff at Nusblatt Dental help the East Village, Manhattan, New York, residents with many dental issues, including managing jaw problems like TMJ disorder.
Located on both sides of your jaw, the TM joint connects the mandible to your temporal lobe and allows movements that make it one of the most complex joints we have. TMJ disorder is a broad term for several problems in this area, causing pain, headaches, popping noises, and restricted movement of the joint.
Around 12% of Americans deal with some form of TMJ, women more often than men. They may be caused by injuries, grinding teeth (bruxism), infections, dental surgery, arthritis, and autoimmune diseases. Hormonal, genetic, and environmental factors can also affect your risk of this condition.
This popular injection for cosmetic purposes also manages several medical issues due to its neurotoxic properties, which relaxes muscles by temporarily reducing contractions to lower hyperactivity. Used when conservative methods fail to be effective, this therapy can be used with other approaches to treat TMJ disorders.
Ongoing research helps us better understand the full range of effectiveness of this method, but it’s currently used to relieve pain in the jaw muscles, facial pain, lockjaw, and headaches due to bruxism.
A minimally invasive process that can be done right in the office, Botox administration is performed by placing injections in specific areas of your temples, jaw muscles, and forehead. It can take up to 30 minutes, depending on how many injections you need, and you can expect up to three injection sessions to relieve jaw pain and other symptoms.
The sensation of the injections can be compared to a prick or bug bite, and a numbing cream or cold pack can help to ease any discomfort. Improvement starts about 24-48 hours post-treatment, with more relief occurring over the course of several days.
TMJ disorder symptoms can be both unpleasant and reduce the effective use of your jaw, but Botox therapy can help manage the problems with this condition to give you relief. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Nusblatt and Nusblatt Dental today for treatment.
