Botox® and cosmetic dentistry

Dr Singh who runs his botox clinic in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in his latest blog shares his thoughts on the combination of botox and cosmetic dentistry.

There are certain specific areas that botox can be used to compliment cosmetic dentistry

The most obvious is the lips. Patients may have perfect straight white teeth, but if the lips are thin or our of proportion then everyones eyes will be drawn to this imperfection and not your wonderful dentistry. Plumping up the lips either subtly (injecting the hyaluronic acid dermal filer just in the boxers of the lips) or increasing the volume (injecting in the body of the lips) will enhance their new sparkling smile.

Another common request from my dental patients was volumerisation in the mid face area, notably the cheek area, where the patient may have loss some teeth. As we know once the teeth have been loss, the bone density will decrease and hence cause a loss of volume. The patient may not ba able to afford to restore the gaps with imp,ants or bridges, but are concerned with the loss of volume which they can afford.

We can apply the same logic as above and look to replacing loss volume, due to loss teeth or filling out deep lines in the nose to mouth (naso labial folds) and mouth to chin (marionette lines) with dermal fillers.
Now, lets look at where we can use botox to target dynamic muscles. As well as the considering to treat the upper third of the face with botox the dentist can consider specific areas that will complement any cosmetic dentistry that the patient is undertaking or will have completed.
Gummy smiles – in some smiles the upper lip can raise too high and unveil a lot of gummy space.  In these patients, you can inject a very small amount of toxin to weaken the muscles responsible for raising the lip. This results in a gentler and softer upward pull when the patient smiles, but still allows all of the teeth to be seen but decreases the amount of gums that show. The toxin is injected in small increments into the upper musculature with the aim of effecting Levator Labii Superioris and the zygomaticus muscle areas, in an effort to reduce the patients upper lip hypermobility.

Corners of the mouth which point downwards and give a permanent sad look can be treated with botox. You can inject the toxin into the Depressor Angular Oris muscle and therefore can diminish the downward pull on the corners of the mouth and allow the muscles that elevate the corners to take over.

TMJ disorders can be treated with botox as part of a treatment plan.

Botox^® can be added to treat bruxism in addition to normal dental procedures.
For more information about botox hertfordshire, please call us on 0800 006 2266.