Botox® for Jaw Pain: What To Expect

Often, when we talk about the jaw, we’re referring to the collective bones, namely the upper maxilla and the lower mandible, that house the parts of our mouth and allow us to speak and eat. This framework of our oral cavity plays a vital part in our oral health, and what we do to our teeth and gums can directly affect its function.

Pain in the upper or lower jaw can have many causes, but treatments like Botox® can make a big difference in alleviating it. To better understand how Botox can help, let’s go over the reasons you experience jaw pain, what Botox does to remedy it, and how the procedure is done.

Dr. Elena Davidson and her team at Davidson Dental Group make a difference in the oral health of residents of San Leandro, Castro Valley, Oakland, California, and the surrounding areas, including offering ways to alleviate jaw pain.

Reasons for jaw pain

Many conditions can lead to jaw pain, including things like:

Temporomandibular disorders: Conditions that result from grinding your teeth, arthritis, inflammation, misalignment, and/or stress cause discomfort or worse.

Trauma: Head injuries that impact the mouth can damage the bone or joints in the jaw.

Oral conditions: Tum disease, cavities, abscesses, misaligned teeth, and toothaches can lead to pain.

Joint problems: Rheumatoid arthritis can attack the healthy tissue in your jaws.

Sinus conditions: Pressure and inflammation from various sinus problems can cause jaw pain.

Heart attack: Referred pain in the jaw can be the only sign of this.

Other diseases: Tetanus (also called lockjaw) and mumps can cause jaw pain.

How Botox helps

The main ingredient in this drug, onabotulinumtoxinA, acts as a neuromuscular blocker by inhibiting the release of acetylcholine, a chemical in your body that helps to move muscles. This causes the affected muscles and nerves to relax, relieving overactivity in conditions such as an overactive bladder, crossed eyes, excessive sweating, and eyelid twitching. When the Botox causes the nerves in the jaw to relax, pain subsides.

Getting the treatment

Getting Botox is an outpatient process, where you’re injected directly into the forehead, temple, and jaw muscles as necessary. Mild pain, comparable to a bug bite or a pinprick, is typical during the process, which may require multiple shots and take up to 30 minutes. A cold pack or numbing cream can be used after the injection to ease discomfort.

Some relief can be experienced shortly after the injection, but full results may take several days, and multiple sessions may be necessary to treat problems, depending on the severity and cause of your jaw pain. To prevent spreading the solution to other muscles and nerves, do not rub or massage the injection sites for several hours after each treatment.

If you’re experiencing pain in your jaw, don’t wait to get relief; make an appointment with Dr. Davidson and Davidson Dental Group at our office in San Leandro, California, to get the help you need.