Can Smile Lines Be Treated with Botox?

Since Botox relaxes muscles, it is not good to use for smile lines because it would affect your ability to smile!  So, fillers are usually the best solution for these lines, like Restylane or Juvederm.  Lasers may also be utilized in some cases. 

By injecting a small amount of Botox, Dysport, Xeomin, or Jeuveau into this area, the muscles will relax, causing the hard, deeps lines to smooth and improving the lines and wrinkles. Neuromodulators take 2 to 4 weeks to start working and lasts for up to six months. I suggest getting a formal evaluation with a cosmetic dermatologist. Best, Dr. Emer

Botox is commonly used to treat the smile lines around the eyes also known as Crows Feet.  The lines that form around the mouth are best treated with dermal fillers.

Thank you for your question. Botox can help with the smile lines, but I is important to define where the lines are. Some patients refer to the crows feet (outer eye skin) as smile lines and Botox is very effective here. Some refer to the nasolabial folds as the smile lines. Fillers are much more effective here and Botox is not.

If the wrinkles at the corners of your eyes appear only when you make a facial expression, like smiling, then Botox would be more suitable. Botox treats "dynamic" wrinkles.Fillers would be better for you because the wrinkles are visible even when your face is in a neutral expression. This means that they are "static" wrinkles, and fillers is the right treatment to smooth them away.

 When patients smile, lines of animation
occur throughout the face. These lines occur primarily in the peri-orbital and
peri-oral regions. When smile lines occur around the eyes, they are commonly
known as crow’s feet. Smile lines that occur around the mouth or also known as
laugh lines. These lines have different causes and therefore require different
treatments.

 Crow’s feet occur because of
contractions of the orbicularis oculi musculw which results in wrinkles at the
outer corner of the eye. These expression lines are effectively treated with botox.
This treatment is associated with excellent clinical results and high levels of
patient satisfaction.

 In contrast botox isn't effective for
treating laugh lines. These lines are more effectively treated with injectable
dermal fillers. When this approach is utilized patients report high level of
satisfaction.

If you're
concerned about these problems, it's important to consult a physician with
experience with injectable fillers and botox. This physician
should be able to formulate a plan that addresses your concerns.

It really depends on the reason the smile lines developed in the first place. BOTOX® Cosmetic works by freezing the muscle at the injection site, making it the perfect solution for dynamic wrinkles, or wrinkles that are caused by repeated facial muscle movements. The vertical furrows between your brows are a great example of dynamic wrinkles.

However, other types of wrinkles are caused not just by your regular facial expressions, but also by the loss of volume in the facial tissues that’s part of growing older. For these wrinkles, an injectable filler is your best option. The parentheses lines around the mouth are good examples of wrinkles that can be improved with injectable fillers.

First, it depends on what you are considering "smile lines."  If it is crow's feet, then yes.  If it is the nasolabial folds, then filler is usually used.  Please seek out an experienced and well trained injector.  They will guide you through the process

We have to be sure we are talking about the same thing when we say "smile lines" but the most important thing is to dispell the myth that Botox always produces a 'frozen face." When done skillfully it should allow you to retain your natural expressiveness while reducing the appearance of tiredness or stress. Smiling is often associated with contracting the muscles lateral to the eyes, contributing to "crow's feet" and those can be very well dealt with by Botox or Dysport. Lines around the mouth are a lot trickier so it is best to consult an expert injector.

The answer to your question depends on how you define smile lines. Two practitioners that answered this question focused on different areas, one the mouth and the other the crow's feet (sides of eyes). The crow's feet (the wrinkles on the sides of the eyes that are accentuated when we smile) are excellent candidates for Botox and in most cases, we can achieve complete resolution of these lines using Botox.
But if the smile lines you are referring to are the creases that exist between the sides of the nose and the corners of the mouth, then Botox is not an option and dermal fillers like Restylane would be a great choice.