daveywavey

Botox is a good solution for patients who can not wear a nightguard or
as an adjuct to a nightguard. When I refer to a nightguard I'm talking
about an NTi device.
Botox or a nightguard/NTi is not going to stop your bruxism problem
that is a separate condition which needs to be diagnosed. Worn down
teeth does not mean you suffer from nocturnal bruxism. It could be a
condition called occlusal dysfunction. However if you are having
cervical lesions on your teeth this is due to clenching. The NTi while
worn will eliminate clenching and most migranes and tension headaches.
Botox will also do this by incompasitating the muscles responsible for
the clenching and if taken periodically Botox will cause these muscles
to atrophy thus giving you longer periods of relief.
Neither Botox nor the NTi is a cure for clenching. Botox is given in
similar places as for wrinkles which is the reason why if you choose
botox, disappearance of wrinkles will be a side effect. For some this
is desirable for others maybe not.
The beneficial effects of Botox for TMJ clenching, migrane headaches
were realized accidentally on patients that went in for wrinkle removal
by Plastic surgeons.
Furthermore Botox use for TMJ, migraines, and wrinkles is an off label
use of an FDA approved drug. It is a very new treatment which is also
poorly understood how it works chemically for migraines, Tension
Headaches etc...
Botox Treatment for TMJ/MigrainesClenching gets expensive especially is
you are going to do injections every 3-4 even 6months mostly because
Allergan the pharmacuetical company and the patent holders of Botox,
have a monopoly on the toxis and thus sell it in vials containing 100
units at a cost of $600/vial. So as far as costs for this procedure
with all the other disposables, chair time, liability factor you are
talking about $1200-1300 per treatment. Once the Botox is reconstituted
it can not be stored for more than a week or two since it loses its
potency and goes bad. So if you need a little bit more Botox and there
is no one else to share the excess with guess who is going to be paying
for the rest of the vial even if there is no additional Dr labour being
charged.
I'm sure you can understand that Dental Offices are not swarming with
TMJ patients wanting or being able to afford Botox so somebody is going
to have to eat the cost of the vial. Fortunately for TMJmigrane
conditions 1 vial of 100units botox is sufficient to relieve the
discomfort/problem so it would only be a rare case that more botox
would be needed.
Hope this helps.