Dysport® (botox) for Facial Esthetics, Jaw Reshaping, Bruxism, and TMD

Dysport® for Facial Esthetics

Whenever you laugh, frown, concentrate or squint into the sun, your facial muscles contract and your skin creases. As you get older, your skin loses its elasticity and those creases deepen into lines that can become permanently etched on your face. Frown lines between your eyes can become particularly noticeable at a relatively young age, making you look angry or worried even when you’re not. By temporarily immobilizing the muscles you use to frown, Dysport® can smooth out those lines, restoring a more youthful, less stressed expression to your face.

We accomplish this by injecting small amounts of Dysport® directly into the facial muscles underlying the frown lines. No local anesthetic is usually required but if you are concerned, your injector can numb the skin over the area before injecting. You can expect treatment to take around 10-30 minutes depending on the number of areas of concern.

Dysport® injections results can be seen within 2-3 days after treatment and generally last between 3-4 months depending on your metabolism. However, many people find after several treatments that they don’t need another one for longer, because they have “unlearned” the habit of frowning or squinting that originally led to the development of these lines. Because you will be physically unable to frown after treatment, you may even lose the urge to frown. The lasting effect of treatment with Dysport® can differ between individuals after which further courses of treatment may be necessary.

Dysport® for Jaw Reshaping, Bruxism and TMD

Although Dysport® is commonly used to treat facial frown lines, additional uses include jaw reshaping, bruxism, and temporomandibular joint pain control. Many patients experienced headache and pain relief as their frown lines and wrinkles became less noticeable. This led to their development and use for other purposes in the facial region. This includes jaw reshaping with slimming the jaw line and correction of asymmetry (differences between the size of the jaw on one side versus the other side) where there is a disproportionately increased size of the masseter muscles. Often, when this is effective, surgery may be avoided. It was found that these patients frequently also had pain in the back portion of their jaws due to clenching, and that the injections reduced the pain, providing the dual effect of improved appearance (aesthetics) and pain relief. These injections may also reduce temporomandibular joint pain in some cases (reducing the need for medications).

A consultation examination and evaluation is necessary to determine if you are a candidate for Dysport® injections in the jaw region. Part of this evaluation determines if the masseter muscle is enlarged, if it is thicker on one side (asymmetric), and if there are tender areas. If you are determined to be a candidate, injections are performed in the office. Although it takes a variable time for effect, often pain starts to improve within the first 2 weeks. Reevaluation will be performed in 2-6 weeks to determine if the injections are having an effect, and later to determine if additional injections are required.