It’s a hot topic – should you use Botox to treat excessive bite forces or TMJ disorders?
Whether your answer is always, never, or “it depends,” the facts are indisputable: the severity of issues like TMD in patients is on the rise. Since the start of the pandemic, dental patients have reported a 36% increase in TMJ pain and a 50% increase in tension-type headaches due to joint dysfunction.
Many practitioners use neuromodulators to treat excessive bite forces and related symptoms – chronic pain, TMD, and other complications. But the use of neuromodulators to treat excessive bite force is not without risk:
Injecting too much or too often can result in permanent muscle atrophy and deficient bite force. Your patient can’t eat what they want – possibly a worse outcome than the symptoms you were trying to treat.
Injecting less units or less often is a more conservative option, but symptoms may not be addressed. Your patient is in persistent, unresolved pain.
How do you minimize these risks – and more accurately prescribe a Botox treatment? Use bite force measurements to help create an individualized treatment plan.
To improve the safety and efficacy of your treatment plans, it is critical to measure bite force – especially if you are using Botox injections.
How Bite Force Measurements can improve Botox treatment outcomes:
Bruxism, tension-type headaches, and other symptoms:
Bite force measurements can help you determine injection dosage and frequency:
Record baseline bite force pre-treatment
Help determine Botox dosage
Measure changes in bite force post-injection
Adjust subsequent dosages and frequency
Dentures and orthodontics:
Depending on a patient’s bite force, it may be possible to:
Minimize or avoid Botox injections through the use of appliances therapy Or
Combine Botox injections with different prosthetic materials to reduce breakage
Preventative care using bite force measurements:
From cracked teeth to chronic pain, symptoms from excessive bite forces and TMD are challenging to treat and even more difficult for patients to bear. What if you could anticipate these symptoms before they become an issue?
Get a baseline bite force measurement on all of your patients
Observe and document any changes in bite force over time
Adjust treatment plans as needed, before bite force-related issues arise
Innobyte: Bite force measurement device used by leading dentists
Untreated excessive bite forces and TMJ disorders can be catastrophic for your patients’ oral health.
If you previously avoided using Botox, bite force measurements can provide the biometric data you need to more confidently prescribe neuromodulator injections.
If you already use Botox in dental your practice, objective data can help improve your patients’ outcomes.
Innobyte accurately measures bite force, helping you personalize your treatment plans and enhance your client communication, in turn providing a significant return on investment.
Better outcomes
Happier patients
Peace of mind
Learn more about the Innobyte bite force device and schedule a virtual demo today.
Should you use Botox to treat excessive bite forces or TMJ disorders?
Yes
No
Image Source: signalhilldental.com