Who should I go to for Botox TMJ? (photos)

Botox is a medication that in certain patients can be used to make the lower face/jaw line narrower then injected in the masseter muscles ( muscle on the side of the cheeks by the angle of the jaw close to the ear).Patients with TMJ probllems like pain, teeth surface wearing off, etc should seek a TMJ specialist ( an ENT doctor) for consutlation.Patients interested in narrowing the bulkiness of the jaw masseter  muscle, shoukd make a consultation with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon specialist in Botox to determine if they are candidates.

Botox is commonly
injected into the muscles that are responsible for clenching and grinding.
These muscles include the masseters and temporalis muscles. In a patient
that has significant clenching, I would inject the masseters with a total of 50
units and that the temporalis with 20 units of Botox. Commonly, this
treatment is effective in improving the pain and soreness associated with
grinding. It is also effective in preventing damage to the teeth.

I consider an effective treatment is that
patients either have complete resolution or a reduction of the symptoms
associated with grinding. There are some patients that will not have relief
with Botox injections.I would choose and injector that has experience and commonly do injections.  I am a facial plastic surgeon so I am biased that I would believe a plastic surgeon would be better.I hope this helps. 

Dear waffles23:Thank you for your question. The jaw line contour as you describe (as well as the grinding) can be improved with botox injection into the masseter muscle. This is something that any well trained facial plastic surgeon would feel comfortable with. TMJ (temporomandibular joint) itself does not get injected with Botox, however. There are times when injection of the masseter alone does not suffice and offers little improvement of the grinding. It those cases, injection of the temporalis muscle (the muscle by your temple area) can help. I hope this helps!