How safe and successful is Botox or Dysport for Jawline Reduction? I'm afraid it would disfigure me, even temporarily. (photos)

Thank you for your question. Botox or Dysport can be a very effective way to contour the jaw line by reducing the masseter shadow through the outer jaw skin. In addition, it can reduce symptoms of jaw clenching or grinding of teeth at night time. This is an advanced technique that requires a strong understanding of the underlying anatomy. Some side effects can results in some very unintented effects. This can include affecting the smile due to diffusion of the Botox into neighboring smile muscles. Over treatment can also overweaken your jaw muscles making it harder to chew food and causes your jaw muscles to relax too much when you sleep.The injection technique does vary by physical exam and the goals of the treatment. Facial contouring goals may change the injection sites themselves to affect different portions of the masseter as well as the dose. The strength of the masseters can be felt by palpation and also helps me to determine dosing. In general, I start with 15- 25 units of Botox (OR 50-75 units of Dysport) per side for most patients. If the have very strong masseters, then I may increase the dose, but more commonly ask them to return in three weeks for a touch up. Once you get the desired result, I let patients know that future treatments may require less to maintain the look or the jaw clenching symptoms, especially if they get treated as soon as they notice the symptoms return. This can be as soon as three to four months, but in some cases, patients report that it lasts six months or more. I find it depends on the dose we use and how many times we have done the procedure as the duration may lengthen for patients that repeat it regularly.

Dysport/Botox is a very safe and effective treatment when administered by a surgeon experienced in this technique.  Side effects occur when unintended muscles are injected, which can happen with inexperienced injectors.  Based on your photos, you would achieve a nice result with a fairly significant tapering of your jawline (your masseter muscle would no longer be able to create the bulge you see when smiling, and would also slim as the Dysport/Botox relaxes the muscle).  I've achieved excellent results with both Dysport/Botox, so the most important factor in achieving a satisfactory result is choosing the right doctor. 

Thank you for your question.Yes, Botox | Dysport is safe and effective for masseter muscle hypertrophy to slim the jawline.



To be sure, see two or more board
certified and experienced plastic surgeons in your area for a full and complete
evaluation.



I hope this helps.

Botox is very effective for jawline shaping/ slimming in people with large/ hypertrophic masseter muscles. The results are gradual and treatment does need to be repeated to reach the result that you're looking for in many cases. The starting points mentioned by my colleagues are reasonable. I have not yet seen a case of over-slimming of the jaw or any other issue that develops after treatment. However, in plastic surgery anything is possible and there are no guarantees. But my experience has been that patients are usually very happy with the result and will occasionally come in for re-treatment to maintain the improvement they achieve with Botox jawline slimming. I hope this information is helpful.Stephen Weber MD, FACSDenver Facial Plastic Surgeon

If your lower facial roundness enhances with biting down, then masseter injections may be beneficial. In our practice, we start with 25u Botox per side, and reassess the results in two weeks. This is not popular in our practice, but appropriate patients have had high satisfaction without sequelae.Hope this helps you.Dr. Joseph