The Functional and Aesthetic Benefits of Jaw Botox
In the last two-odd years, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't become acutely aware of their face. After over 24 months of staring at our own faces on screens, it would be difficult to not notice some, shall we say, tweaks we would like to address. Not to mention with all of the ambient stress that we have processed just by simply existing, added to terrible posture—teeth grinding and clenching has become more prevalent than ever. The answer for many: Jaw Botox. And the simple injection has some pretty impressive benefits for your appearance too.
First, a crash course in masseter Botox for the uninitiated. Jaw Botox is now a regularly practiced treatment for bruxism (the clenching or grinding of the teeth—mostly unconsciously—that can cause jaw pain, tightness, headaches, and even ear pain). Injecting Botox into the masseter (the main muscle in the jaw used to chew) relaxes that muscle, and makes it more difficult to contract—thus providing therapeutic relief to related jaw pain.
It turns out, though, people might be starting the treatment for therapeutic reasons, but continuing for reasons that are very aesthetic. For example, the impact that a relaxed jaw has one one's teeth.
"Jaw Botox is an effective means of managing TMD (temporomandibular disorders)," explains Dr. Matt Nejad, a cosmetic and biomimetic dentist in Beverly Hills California. "When used effectively, it can protect your teeth from wear, chipping, and cracking by minimizing non-functional habits." And while there are other facial aesthetic benefits of the treatment, Dr. Nejad states that with his clients, the primary concern is addressing pain, and of course, protecting the function and appearance of their smiles from damage.
Preserving the appearance of one's teeth isn't the only benefit that one can actually see in the face from regular injections in the jaw. Think about it: if you are constantly grinding or clenching, you are perpetually working that muscle, as you would at the gym. Consequently, it can grow, and contribute to a bulkier appearance, or squaring of the jaw.
Dual board-certified Facial Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Dara Liotta, explains that when patients receive Botox in the mandible (about 25 units at each side) they will experience functional relief in about a week, but within about 6 weeks, they will start to see a slimming of the squared jaw line or hypertrophy that happens as a result of their prior clenching.
"There's been a notable increase in the demand for masseter Botox for both functional (TMJ and teeth-grinding) and cosmetic (jawline slimming) reasons since COVID." The explanation is two pronged, Dr. Liotta continues, "I think in general people have been more stressed, and teeth clenching and grinding is a reaction to stress. But with regard to aesthetics, I think all aesthetic procedures are still in the COVID Zoom-boom time."
The takeaway according to Dr. Liotta? People are trying trying masseter Botox for functional reasons, they’re seeing the cosmetic benefit and wanting to keep it up.
And yes, the slimming of the jaw is great, but it's also producing another effect. "When you take away the square look to the angle of the jaw from an overgrown masseter muscle, it softens the lower face to make the lower half of the face look more narrow—and our brains interpret this as overall weight loss." The point: if you have an enlarged masseter muscle and you slim it with Botox, you will look like you've lost weight. This revelation could not come at a better time, because who isn't leaning in to a little indulgence these days?
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