Jaw Surgery Pain

How do I weaken strong masseter muscles that cause severe TMJ pain?

Doctor's Answers 1

Dr Jaclyn Toh

Dentist

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Hyperactive masseter muscles can be a sign of night-time bruxism (grinding of the teeth).

**There are 2 strategies that are generally used to shrink the muscles and reduce muscle activity:
**

Placement of neurotoxin into the masseters
Botox can be injected into the masseters to weaken the muscles. However, this requires repeated treatment since you will continue to use these muscles in chewing.
Large muscles, like the masseter, will tend to require more units of neurotoxin.
Use of a bite guard
A bite guard that only covers the front teeth can reduce jaw muscle activation, including in the temporalis and masseter muscles. There are several types of bite guards in this design, including the Kois deprogrammer or MCI.
You will need to be screened by your dentist for the potential for jaw joint changes prior to having this bite guard made.
A bite guard is worn at night and can complement Botox.

Similar Questions

Aesthetic Medicine

Can Botox of the Masseter muscle result in bone loss, and should I be concerned?

Hi Michelle! The massetor acts on ur jawbone and helps chewing. Like all the bones in your body, a lack of muscular action on them would cause a decrease in bone density, that’s why exercise is recommended to increase bone density and prevent osteoporosis in the elderly. Botox of the massetor reduces the action of chewing, and thus may cause some bone resorption. However the effect is minimal and has not caused any complications to patients in my practice or in the literature. Hope that helps!

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Aesthetic

How to permanently reduce the size of my masseter muscles if Botox is ineffective?

Thank you for your question. There's a couple of reasons why you could be "botox resistant". 1. Maybe the botox has worked very well and you do not have enlarged masseter muscles anymore, therefore, injecting more toxin will not shrink your jawline any further. 2. There are some people who develop antibodies to botox. You may need to use a different brand of toxin if your masseters are still hypertrophic. The only permanent ways to reduce your jawline are surgical. Either your muscle can be reduced or your mandible can be reduced or both. Hope this answers your question.

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