Botox
Valley Esthetics Dental Group in Modesto is your comprehensive, one-stop, smile-enhancing center. In addition to offering the high-quality, precision smile-brightening dental care you’ve come to expect from Dr. Tourtlotte and her team, we also offer Botox injections. Not only does this save you a trip to the dermatologist or plastic surgeon for a smoother, wrinkle-free smile, but we also use Botox for several important dental pain-relieving applications.
Botox at Your Modesto Dentist’s Office
Botox has been an FDA-approved wrinkle eraser for many years now. As a purified, standardized serum derived from botulinum bacteria, it temporarily relaxes and paralyzes muscles and numbs nerves at the injection site. Dr. Tourtlotte uses Botox injections for several smile-boosting reasons:
- To help new denture wearers adjust without discomfort
- To provide TMJ jaw pain relief
- To stop bruxism and teeth clenching that can lead to TMJ overuse injuries
- To smooth smile lines
- To relieve migraine headache pain
Although Botox is not usually the final treatment for any of these conditions, it enhances and facilitates further dental treatment efforts and pain relief options. Dr. Tourtlotte has become the dentist Modesto residents rely on to experience all these benefits:
Jaw Pain Relief for TMJ Disorder
Your temporomandibular joint is the double-hinged connection between your skull and your jawbone. Stress, certain disorders, traumatic injuries, and repetitive stress can tense and damage the muscles that support this joint, and its surrounding tissues. When this happens, TMJ disorder can develop, making talking, yawning, and chewing activities painful. You might even hear popping, clicking, or crunching noises coming from your jaw. Your Modesto dentist can inject Botox into precise muscle points around the jaw to relax the tight muscles that cause TMJ pain and dysfunction.
Botox for Bruxism
Bruxism is the fancy term for grinding your teeth in your sleep at night. It’s often listed as one of the causes of TMJ disorder because it can tense and tighten the jaw muscles. For some people, bruxism can result in a terrifying locked jaw first thing in the morning! Although you may not know that you are grinding your teeth at night, Dr. Tourtlotte can evaluate wear on your teeth and tightness in your jaw muscles. This can indicate bruxism, and we can stop bruxism with precise Botox injections into the jaw muscles. This not only relaxes any TMJ damage but can prevent further damage to tooth enamel affected by the grinding action of bruxism.
Smile Line Smoothing
Valley Esthetics Dental Group focuses on giving you a brilliant, confident smile. If your smile lines dent your confidence, we can relax and smooth out wrinkles and lines around your lips, eyes, nose, forehead, jawline, chin, and eyebrows. This ensures that all eyes are on your radiant smile!
Smoothing the Transition to Wearing Dentures
Before Botox injections, new denture wearers often experienced a tense and uncomfortable first few weeks of tight muscles in the jaw and face. Your Modesto dentist can ease this transition with Botox injections that automatically relax and anesthetize muscles to avoid that achy tightness. This will help you adjust and get used to eating, talking, and going about your day with dentures.
Migraine Relief from Your Dentist
Several studies have linked TMJ disorder to migraine pain. Not everyone with TMJ has migraines and not everyone who has migraines has TMJ, but many people do find that the same things that trigger TMJ also trigger migraines (especially stress and tense facial and head muscles). While Botox injections in the neck, forehead, jaw, and temples relax tense muscles, they also block certain nerve signals that trigger migraine headaches. Dr. Tourtlotte recommends repeating Botox injections for migraines every three to four months.
Improve Your Smile with Botox with Your Dentist in Modesto
The Valley Esthetics Dental Group team is passionate about helping you smile with flair and confidence! To learn more about Botox for dental applications, schedule an appointment today!
