Treatment
JAWLINE SLIMMING
The masseter muscles are one of the bulky muscles of the jaw responsible for chewing. There are many muscles for chewing and the masseters are one of them. For some people, the muscle can become enlarged due to excessive jaw clenching and teeth grinding which can lead to jaw pains/headaches and even fractured teeth.
Masseter botox can offer both medical and cosmetic benefits. People who suffer with bruxism (excessive grinding of the teeth) can have great symptomatic benefit. By relaxing the masseter muscles, we reduce the tendency to excessively grind the teeth even during sleep. Patients will still be able to eat and drink as normal. Many dentists advise this treatment for their patients as it eliminated the need for wearing mouth guards at night.
From a cosmetic standpoint, masseter botox is a great treatment for slimming the jaw. This would be mainly used to feminise the face. As a general rule, in order to feminise the face, we aim for the cheek width to be wider than the jaws. In women who have hypertrophied (enlarged) masseter muscles, this is great news. By slimming the jaw, we are able to slim this portion of the face in order for the cheeks to be more dominant in comparison which can feminise the face.
How Does It Work?
A small targeted dose of botox is injected into the masseter muscles on either side of the face. The muscle relaxing effects of botox cause the muscle to be less active after about 1 week. This is when patients start to experience great relief from bruxism and headaches. After about 4 weeks, the muscle begins to undergo some atrophy (reduced muscle size) which gives cosmetic benefit.
