Night time clenching and grinding is a condition which can often be missed or not diagnosed.
Obvious tell-tale signs include waking up in the morning with a headache, sore jaws or muscles.
As dental practitioners, we can see the effects of clenching/grinding when we look in your mouth - wear and flattening of your teeth, or cracked teeth and fillings.
Apart from the long term damage caused to your teeth, clenching and grinding will eventually lead to long term problems in your jaw joint (TMJ), as your TMJ is under constant strain and pressure (similar to a footballer suffering a knee injury). Often, severe pain is associated with this parafunctional activity.
There are many different ways that we can treat the pain:
· Splint therapy
· Occlusal adjustments/rehabilitation
· Full mouth rehabilitation
· Orthodontics
· Surgery
· Continual use of pain killers
Alternatively, the use of Botox ® can also provide pain relief.
Botox ® is a safe medication used in dentistry to relax facial muscles, particularly the ones that are involved in clenching/grinding (temporalis, massters, frontalis). This in term allows relief of pain.
Botox ® is generally administered by a very fine needle into the muscles with selected appropriate dose so that only part of the muscle is treated. The rest of the muscles still can function normally therefore chewing is mostly unaffected.
No anaesthetic is required since the procedure has minimal discomfort (a slight sting at the injection site). The treatment generally takes around 15 minutes for full face.
The Botox treatment takes around 2-4 days to begin taking effect and up to 7 days for the full effect to be felt.
For more information, please go to:
http://www.concorddentalpractice.com.au/services/therapeutic-botox-%C2%A...
Please call us at Concord Dental Practice 9743 2001 to find out if Botox ® can help you.