BOTOX®
Look Younger and Feel Better
SmileScapes Dentistry in Alpharetta offers BOTOX® Cosmetic to help decrease the size and appearance of wrinkles and facial creases. In addition to helping you look younger, BOTOX® can also be used to treat temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ), headaches, and gummy smiles.
BOTOX® Cosmetic is usually performed on the forehead, around the eyes, or frown lines. Once applied, it can take up to a week to take full effect and can last from four to six months. Repeated treatment, will train your muscles to relax so that any facial lines will appear smoother.
Contact our office if you are interested in BOTOX® Cosmetic.
What Is BOTOX® Cosmetic?
BOTOX® Cosmetic is the first and only FDA-approved product to temporarily improve both moderate to severe frown lines between the brows and crow’s feet lines around the sides of the eyes.
Actual patient. Results may vary. Photos were taken at maximum frown before and after treatment with BOTOX® Cosmetic (onabotulinumtoxinA) on day 7, month 3, and month 4. In clinical studies, physicians assessed 74% of people had significant improvement at day 7; 80% of people had significant improvement at day 30; 48% of people had significant improvement at month 3; and 25% of people had significant improvement at month 4.1 Side effects associated with the injection include localized pain, infection, inflammation, tenderness, swelling, redness, and/or bleeding/bruising.1 1. BOTOX® Cosmetic Prescribing Information, September 2013.
BOTOX® for the Treatment of TMJ
While generally used as a wrinkle reducer, BOTOX® Cosmetic can also help treat TMJ or temporomandibular joint dysfunction. When injected into the jaw area, it temporarily paralyzes the muscle, giving the joint time to rest. As the muscle at the joint rests, the inflammation around the area has time to go down, keeping the joint from locking and reducing jaw pain.
Because BOTOX® Cosmetic only temporarily paralyzes the muscle, the joint will be able to resume full range of motion once the injection fades over time, and many patients experience less or no jaw pain and fewer “lockjaw” sensations.
How Does BOTOX® Cosmetic Work?
BOTOX® Cosmetic targets one of the underlying causes of frown lines and crow’s feet—the repeated muscle contractions from frowning and squinting over the years. Your doctor will inject these muscles with BOTOX® Cosmetic to temporarily reduce muscle activity. You’ll begin to notice a visible smoothing of these lines.
You can ask your doctor about treating these 2 areas in just 1 visit, and that’s the beauty of BOTOX® Cosmetic.
BOTOX® for the Treatment of Wrinkles and TMJ
BOTOX® Cosmetic is injected into muscles and used to improve the look of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows (glabellar lines) in adults for a short period of time (temporary). It can also be injected into the area around the side of the eyes to improve the look of moderate to severe crow’s feet lines in adults for a short period of time (temporary).
BOTOX® Cosmetic also helps to relieve the pain and discomfort associated with temporomandibular joint dysfunction or TMJ. When injected into the jaw muscles, BOTOX® Cosmetic temporarily paralyzes the muscles, allowing the joint to rest, reducing inflammation in the surrounding muscles, and relieving pain and stiffness.
Important Safety Information
BOTOX® Cosmetic may cause serious side effects that can be life-threatening. Call your doctor or get medical help right away if you have any of these problems any time (hours to weeks) after injection of BOTOX® Cosmetic:
- Problems swallowing, speaking, or breathing, due to the weakening of associated muscles, can be severe and result in loss of life. You are at the highest risk if these problems are pre-existing before injection. Swallowing problems may last for several months
- Spread of toxin effects. The effect of botulinum toxin may affect areas away from the injection site and cause serious symptoms including loss of strength and all-over muscle weakness, double vision, blurred vision and drooping eyelids, hoarseness or change or loss of voice (dysphonia), trouble saying words clearly (dysarthria), loss of bladder control, trouble breathing, trouble swallowing. If this happens, do not drive a car, operate machinery, or do other dangerous activities.
The dose of BOTOX® Cosmetic is not the same as, or comparable to, any other botulinum toxin product.
There has not been a confirmed serious case of the spread of the toxin effect when BOTOX® Cosmetic has been used at the recommended dose to treat frown lines, crow’s feet lines, or both at the same time.
Serious and/or immediate allergic reactions have been reported. They include itching, rash, red itchy welts, wheezing, asthma symptoms, dizziness, or feeling faint. Tell your doctor or get medical help right away if you are wheezing or have asthma symptoms, or if you become dizzy or faint.