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Grinding your teeth can have a real impact on your physical and mental wellbeing, leading to pain, jaw tension and other severe dental problems. Targeted and effective treatment can ease your symptoms and give you some relief.
Bruxism is the medical term for unconscious jaw and teeth clenching and grinding, either while awake or asleep. You may be aware that you grind your teeth, or maybe your dentist has picked it up during your regular check up. At the London TMJ clinic, we can provide effective treatment to provide tremendous relief from the unpleasant and painful problems associated with bruxism.
The symptoms of bruxism include:
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During your initial consultation, the procedure is discussed with you in detail, and your case is assessed to enable us to fully understand the severity of your bruxism. We also give you the chance to ask any questions about your treatment. To diagnose Bruxism, a specialist sleep study is ideally required in order to assess the jaw movement and muscular activity. Diagnosis can also be made during examination and clinical history.
There are a number of ways to treat Bruxism. These can include medication such as muscle-relaxers, agonists which increases GABA levels, dopamine increasing drugs for those with a dopamine deficiency. In some cases we would use Botulinum toxin to relax the large muscle that moves your jaw, using a very fine needle. This weakens the muscle enough to stop you involuntarily grinding your teeth and clenching your jaw, but does not affect any voluntary movements, such as chewing and facial expressions. Splints can also be used to help ease symptoms. In severe cases, a combination of all these can be used along with changes in lifestyle and diet.
Most patients find the injections are not particularly painful. You will likely experience a sensation similar to an insect sting or pin prick, but this is over quickly.
Watch Luke’s video of his thoughts on Bruxism
After your bruxism procedure, you should remain upright and avoid rubbing or massaging the injection sites for several hours, as advised. This helps prevent the injected formula from spreading to other muscles.
There is no downtime or recovery period needed after treatment. You can expect to return to your regular activities immediately, with no interruption. This includes going to the gym, returning to work and drinking alcohol. If you need any advice, please get in touch.
Although there is not a cure for bruxism, carefully targeted injections can effectively control the uncomfortable symptoms.
You will likely feel some improvement within a day or two of treatment, but it usually takes several days to fully feel relief from your bruxism symptoms.
The effects of muscle-relaxing injections with Botox® to relieve the symptoms of teeth grinding and jaw clenching typically last for 3-4 months. You can then have a top up treatment to prolong and maintain your results.
Muscle-relaxing injections using Botox® have become an ideal treatment option for patients suffering from bruxism. They can target and treat excessive muscle activity and tightness in a quick treatment with very effective results. Other treatments, including anti-inflammatory medications and dental devices or nightguards, do not address the source of the problem. Nightguards and other mouth devices can successfully protect the teeth from damage at night for many bruxism sufferers, but are ineffective in stopping the painful side effects of teeth grinding.
Any side effects from bruxism treatment are uncommon, and are discussed with you before your treatment begins. They could include headaches, respiratory infections, flu-like illness, nausea or temporary eyelid droop. You could also experience a ‘fixed’ smile, that could last for 6-8 weeks, due to the paralysing effect of Botox® on the muscles. Other more common side effects include pain, redness, muscle weakness or bruising at the injection site, and generally appear within the first week of treatment.
Botox® treatment for bruxism is covered by most insurance companies, so please check with your insurer. The self-pay prices for private treatment are around £700 – £750 for one round of treatment.
If you would like to discuss treatment, book a consultation or just have a general enquiry, please get in touch.
Referrals from GDPs, GPs and consultants are welcome. Please use this form if you wish to discuss a case prior to referral.
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