Remedies for Bruxism: From Mouth Guard to Botox Injections

Botox is a relatively new treatment option for bruxism or teeth grinding problem. There are many other older remedies like mouth guards available that can protect your teeth from the effects of bruxism. Botox, however, is the only one that can stop you from grinding your teeth unconsciously. But Botox has not yet been approved by British Dental Health Foundation for treatment of bruxism in the UK.

This is the reason The Bruxism Association will not provide you any guidance in finding the Botox clinic for Bruxism in the UK and you’ll have to search on your own. Why Botox has not yet been approved and whether you can have it as a treatment option or not are questions that can only be answered if you know the causes of Bruxism. Let’s learn about them first

Causes of Bruxism and their Link with Botox

For many years, it was believed that bruxism is caused by some problems in the jaw structure like crooked teeth, abnormal bite etc. Recent research, however, disproves this. It has been found in the recent clinical studies on Bruxism that there is no causal relationship between facial structure and teeth grinding habit. In fact, the popular notion that occlusion in the blood vessels to the teeth can cause teeth grinding has also been disproved by many studies conducted in the last few years.

Bruxism is now believed to be a sleep disorder because of several reasons. First, most cases of Bruxism are found to have some other sleep disorders as well and this co-occurrence of teeth clenching and other problems during sleep points towards some relationship. Also it has been found that the intensity of teeth grinding activity increases with the deepening of sleep and reaches at peak during rapid eye movement stage of sleep. Third, the psychological and life style problems that have been found to cause sleep disorder have also been found to be risk factor for bruxism.

Now if we view bruxism as a sleep disorder caused by some psychological rather physical problems, it is clear that Botox cannot serve as a permanent treatment for this problem. Botox treatment for Bruxism works on the principle of stopping the muscular activity of teeth grinding and clenching. It does so by stopping the neural messages to reach the Jaw muscles and let them relax for 3-9 months. Psychological management of the problem can be more effective and long-lasting for bruxism.

Botox in Comparison to Other Treatments for Bruxism

Mouth guards were once the most used and popular treatment for Bruxism in the UK. The main science was to protect the teeth from the effects of teeth grinding. The effectiveness of the mouth guards or occlusal splints was also linked to the occlusal cause of bruxism that has not been unproved. Therefore, these splints and other occlusal adjustment treatment can only serve as a control remedy rather a cure to the problem. In this respect, Botox is much more effective than mouth guards as the protection of mouth guard was limited. On the other hand, since Botox stops or reduce the teeth grinding, it saves a person from most of its effects.

The same argument works for Mandibular Advancements Devices (MADs). They can only protect your teeth but cannot stop teeth grinding. Also they are quite painful and you cannot sleep soundly wearing them causing sleeplessness and stress. Some other serious side effects have also been reported regarding the use of MADs.  Botox is less-invasive and painless than MADs. It also does not affect your aesthetics the way these mouth wearing devices do. 

However, as provided above, Botox cannot be as effective as psychological treatments. Behavioral approach to the problem is the most advisable way to its cure. Yet behavioral treatments take their time and during that process you need some control mechanisms. Therefore, I suggest my patients to have Botox along with the psychological treatment. While psychological remedy treats the cause of problem, Botox injections help you deal with the damaging effects of bruxism and also in getting out of this habit of teeth grinding.

Why Botox has not been approved for Bruxism yet?

Botox is a relatively new treatment. Its use for treating bruxism has started in the UK just a few years back. A number of clinical studies are required to prove its safety and effectiveness. This takes time – several years, more precisely. Despite my and many other cosmetic surgeon’s belief that Botox is a safe and effective treatment for Bruxism, the British Dental Health Foundation want more and more research evidences to approve the treatment. This happens. Botox treatment for removing wrinkles has been performed for many years but it was only a few years back when authorities gave approval for this treatment. Therefore, disapproval does not mean that Botox treatment for bruxism is unsafe. It, nevertheless, means that there are many issues that you will have to deal with like,

• Without approval of Botox injection as a treatment for bruxism, there cannot be any regulation that can ensure patient safety and protection. No authority is there to register the Botox clinics or professionals for Bruxism in the UK to ensure that only experts perform this treatment. In case of poor performance by practitioners, you might face problem in legally charging the wrongdoer.  
• Botox treatment for Bruxism is not included in insurances and you cannot get any government subsidies or financial support of having this treatment in the UK.
• Finding a clinic in UK providing Botox treatment for bruxism can be a tiring task because there is no list of approved clinics for this treatment. You’ll have to rely on the fame of clinic or word of mouth to find a safe and professional doctor for this treatment.

  So you must be cautious while having Botox for Bruxism yet I recommend it highly in comparison to other control mechanisms like mouth guard for reason I discuss above.