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Original poster

Botox for Bruxism

52 replies

RunningOnMusic · 17/02/2021 21:13

Has anyone had botix for bruxism and has it worked? I have had a mouth guard at night for a few years but clenching and grinding my teeth continues... with migraines and more damage to my teeth. Saw the dentist today who is referring me for botox. Has anyone had this and did it work? Can I also sneakily ask for my 11s to be done at the same time ;) Honestly though the jaw aches and head aches need to stop...

OP posts:
Original poster
RunningOnMusic · 30/03/2021 14:01

Update. Had the botox and I haven't had a headache since. Still some clenching/grinding but not as bad but still wearing mouthguard at night...this is 5 days later. I think it takes 3 weeks to know more. I have a check up then. I think just from the last few days there is definitely a difference. Highly recommend but it is £.

OP posts:
HermionePotter123 · 30/03/2021 15:04

Hey @RunningOnMusic what kind of mouthguard do you have?

Original poster
RunningOnMusic · 30/03/2021 15:10

Mine is one they made me at the dentist made of hard plastic. I originally had a softer one but I ground through it! I have a pretty severe case of Bruxism... so I am so relieved even at the no more headaches at this point

OP posts:
HermionePotter123 · 30/03/2021 15:14

Thanks for the reply. I don't suppose you know if it's called a michigan splint do you? My dentist is making me one. It covers all the upper teeth and is quite hard. Really glad the botox seems to be working for you! I've already lost a bottom molar through clenching Sad

opalescent · 30/03/2021 22:36

Hermione I'd be really interested to find out how you get on with your Michigan splint.
I have terrible issues with bruxism, it's really taken over my life over the last year. Up until now I've only been using a soft mouth guard, which I feel has made things worse.
My dentist is making me a hard acrylic 'free plane' splint at £400.
She said a Michigan would be the next step, if this doesn't work! 😳

It's a bloody expensive problem to have 😩

JulesJules · 30/03/2021 23:35

Watching with interest. I'd been told before by my dentist that I was grinding my teeth. Had the first covid vaccine in Feb and had a lot of side effects, including feeling very stiff and achey all over. It seemed to trigger very painful jaw pain. Had to see GP and dentist as I'm on IV biphosphonates. (breast cancer treatment/osteoporosis) The x-rays showed a fracture in my back tooth, any dental work would be a real risk as the biphosphonates can cause osteonecrosis of the jaw. I've got to go back to the dentist tomorrow to see what they think. The GP gave me codeine and diazepam, but that's a short term fix for the pain.

Starbucksbasic123 · 31/03/2021 00:41

I had it done in January. Took about two weeks to kick in. Bliss! No more pain. I was in agony and relying on Paramol and ibruprofen together which I didn’t like taking daily but it was awful. Mouth guard I used to take out in my sleep. Cost me £400 (Harley St) but was so worth it, highly recommend

BensonStabler · 02/04/2021 07:05

Thanks for this post. Much needed advice for myself and my young adult daughter both suffering.

tmh88 · 02/04/2021 07:13

I’ve just been referred for this, exactly the same problem! I broke a tooth from clenching so hard in my sleep, needed a filling, broke that from clenching and then got decay under it, had that removed and a temp one put in which I bit through! It’s honestly getting unbearable the pain.. I do have a bite guard which I put in every night but I wake up every morning with it out.. so I must take it out in my sleep, scared I’m going to have no teeth left and it’s making me have such bad ear pain too!

HermionePotter123 · 02/04/2021 12:31

@opalescent sorry you're experiencing the same thing! It's rubbish isn't it. Do you know what your trigger was? And have you lost any teeth because of it? Michigan splints actually only cost £75 to be made in the lab. Often dentists will hugely mark up the price. My own dentist (private) is charging me £140 for the Michigan splint but most dentists charge £500+. No idea why there's such a discrepancy. Do you know when you will get the hard splint?

opalescent · 02/04/2021 13:58

I have sadly lost two teeth yes, one quite visible 😞 very upsetting as only in my 30s! I will need an implant to replace that one, but need to get my bruxism stabilised first.
I think I have ground my teeth since childhood, but it has only caused real pain and problems in the last two years.

Horrified to hear the lab costs for a Michigan- my dentist has quoted around £800 🤬

I am getting my hard mouth guard on Thursday next week, and will keep you posted!
Also received an appointment for the oral surgery team in June this week, after waiting around a year. Desperately hoping they might offer me NHS funded Botox or splints, as I met have spent thousands so far, trying to get to the bottom of this.

I have tried Botox once but didn't notice a major difference, I do wonder if I had enough units.

Lots of sympathy from me to anyone else suffering.

opalescent · 02/04/2021 13:59

There is a good Facebook support group for bruxism.

opalescent · 02/04/2021 14:03

In terms of triggers, my bruxism seemed to get worse in the run up to my wedding (2019), and shortly afterwards we went into lockdown: so stress related I'm sure!

Original poster
RunningOnMusic · 02/04/2021 21:25

Yes it is the hardest mouthguard across all top teeth - not sure of name but sounds like the Michigan thing and given the costings people have mentioned. I did have a headache this morning again but seeing dentist in 2 weeks for the post botox check up. They can give a top up then. I also had an implant and currently have 2 cracks in 2 molars but they seem ok at the moment but could cause issues at any time. I can't afford any more dentist fees right now....I need this botox to work properly.

Anyway... as everyone has mentioned bruxism is terrible and costly so sympathies to all.

OP posts:
HermionePotter123 · 02/04/2021 23:42

@opalescent sorry to hear about you losing teeth too. I bet that hasn't helped matters with occlusion either. My problems started during pregnancy last year and has never went away. Dentist was/is querying atypical facial pain at one point which was very unsetting but she wants me to try the splint first (as well as hygienist visit as have gum pockets which have been made worse by bruxism). I suspect my upper first molar also has a crack in it (had the lower first removed after I cracked it through clenching). Oh please do keep us informed about the mouthguard. It's really useful hearing other peoples stories. @RunningOnMusic yeah it sounds like a michigan splint you have. Do you find it stops you from clenching or does it just help in not damaging your teeth when you do clench? Oh fingers crossed you get another top up. I'm out a fortune too with the whole saga. It seems every dentist i go to (and have been to about 8Blush) all have varying opinions of what's going on, but the most consistent diagnosis is tmjd

opalescent · 02/04/2021 23:48

Absolutely with the occlusion issue- since losing teeth my teeth simply don't fit together any more. They feel like they clatter about all over the place; and I get a lot more issues with dental pain in individual teeth from clenching- assuming that's linked to uneven bite pressure.

I also have recession caused by bruxism, to my premolars and molars. It doesn't seem to cause a huge issue yet, but looks a bit scary.

It's a total shit, because I really do take very good care of my teeth 😞

I've posted a few times about this issue, and often been told 'get a referral to a dental hospital'. That's never been suggested as an option by any of the dentists I've seen.

sophmum31 · 02/04/2021 23:53

Just seen this post come up again to update you, I got Botox after seeing this post. It's been about 4 weeks and I would say my clenching/grinding is about 75% better, my jaw on one side is completely free of tension but I do still feel tension in my worst side. There is no pain though. I'm going to get more next time to see if it will go completely - it's quite severe but they only have me the standard amount to try it. I am so glad I tried it and will definitely keep going (certainly while I'm stressed through my divorce!) x

opalescent · 02/04/2021 23:54

Sophmum, do you happen to know how many units you had either side? Great news that it has helped so much Smile

HermionePotter123 · 20/04/2021 18:19

@opalescent hey how are you getting on with your splint?

opalescent · 20/04/2021 18:51

Very timely question @HermionePotter123!

I wore it last night for the first time, it was uncomfortable 😞 I had a crap night sleep last night. My teeth have ached today, for the first time in a few weeks. I really hope I just need to get used to it, otherwise I've wasted £350 quid!

dane8 · 20/04/2021 19:12

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HermionePotter123 · 20/04/2021 21:11

Ah that sucks @opalescent. Do you think it may need readjusted? It probably will take a bit of time to get used to but it must be really off putting that your teeth are playing up again, especially when they had just began to settle. Did you dentist say it may hurt to begin with?

HermionePotter123 · 20/04/2021 21:13

@dane8 yep I get neck/shoulder pain although in my case I don't think it's related to the bruxism. What way does your tmj/bruxism affect you? For me it's toothache, jaw pain and sometimes gum pain too

dane8 · 20/04/2021 23:55

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HermionePotter123 · 21/04/2021 14:09

@dane8 how long have you been having these issues? You're definitely not having an easy time of it at all, it's such a frustrating (and expensive!) thing to have. When you saw the oesteo did they mention anything about your c1 and c2 in your neck? They can be a cause of tmj issues although I'm sure that would have been picked up by them if that were the case. I've seen 2 maxillofacial consultants and one consultant in oral medicine. I find that dentists and maxfax can be quite hit and miss. What did the dental hospital say? The one thing that I have found consistent with nearly all the professionals I've seen (including my gp) is the use of a stabilisation splint such as a michigan/ tanner splint. Nti splint (also known as a luci jig) can be an option for some people too. I understand you may not want to spend that kind of money though when it may not work. Where did you get the original mouthguard from? Out of all the complimentary therapies you had did you find anything helped at all? There's a lovely mumsnetter who advised me to try bowen therapy as well as a book called trigger point therapy by Clair Davies. I ordered the book last week but it hasn't come yet, but if you want I'll update you when I get it to see if I found it helpful. I read on another post that someone had good success with a mediflow water pillow so that could be another option in the pillow avenue. It's interesting that your problems started off with clenching as from speaking with others on here it seems that clenching then causes a whole cascade of other things to go wrong. It seems very much a chicken or egg situation though which makes it so hard for professionals to determine the root cause of it all so unfortunately it's a slow and very expensive process of elimination. I've spent thousands (which I don't have) on trying to get a solution and not really any further forward. I saw my gp last week and she advised I get a full head mri done that would show if there were any issues with the jaw joints/discs as well as potential issues in the nerves. Do you think that's something you could maybe look into? I know it's expensive, but again it would help in pinpointing where the pain may be coming from. Sorry for the essay but I really do know how much it sucks to have it and would love to see you pain free