It is commonly caused by anxiety or stress and most often occurs whilst an individual is sleeping whereupon the surfaces of the teeth are ground against one another. Bruxism can result in facial pains, tooth ache and headaches if left untreated. It can also affect your quality of sleep and lead to damage to your teeth as you wear them down. Bruxism can also give the jaw a square appearance.

Simple treatment with botulinum toxin injections can both reduce the bruxism and soften the appearance of the jawline. We use our jaws all the time, whether for chewing, biting, talking, smiling or yawning. There is nearly always a constant need to use our jaw muscles to open and close our mouths. With this constant movement, the jaw muscles or masseters are one of the strongest muscles in the head.

The jawline is also an important attribute in beauty, with a wide or square-like jaw, which is a sign of strength in a man, being considered an unattractive feature in a woman. This lantern jaw like appearance is often due to prominent masseter muscles which have become prominent due to teeth grinding and jaw clenching which has over exercised the muscles and added bulk to them – much like a body builder enlarges the biceps in their arms. By reducing the over activity of the chewing muscles, we can both stop the teeth grinding and improve the dental health, but also reduce the squareness to the jaw and restore a more feminine look.

At the Dr SW Clinics, we use a treatment more commonly used as wrinkle reducing injections, which use the active ingredient of botulinum toxin as a therapeutic tool to relieve what can often also be a painful condition triggered by the jaw muscles and to treat chronic teeth grinding. The botulinum toxin is used to weaken the response of the masseter muscles so that you can continue to move your mouth normally when you need to talk or chew, but so that they are weakened enough to stop you grinding your teeth in your sleep. This is an advanced treatment technique using botulinum toxin and you can be sure that Dr Sherif Wakil and his team offer you experience and skills in this treatment.

Bruxism treatment has proven to be successful, although does need regular repeat treatments. It has minimal risks and complications, and if often described as life-changing for those with significant bruxism.