TMJ: Nightguards & Botox

Nightguards and Neurotoxin Injections (like Botox) can help with a variety of issues including, TMJ, muscle pain, jaw pain, grinding, and clenching. Clenching and grinding can also be sometimes called Bruxism. Depending on what the condition is we will generally design one of two types of nightguards:

1) In general, if you have are clenching and grinding but dont have any pain present in the jaw muscles we will make you a custom fitted guard similar to the one below:

2) If you do have pain in your muscles, we will generally make something more similar to this (pictured below) or inject a neurotoxin (like Botox) into your jaw clencing muscles. The advantage of the nightguard is that it will generally last for 3-5 years before it needs to be replaced. The disadvatage is that it requires you to wear it each night to be effective. As for the neurotoxin, the advantage is that is requires only a few injections and doesnt require you to wear anything at night. However, the disadvantage is that it will usually only be effective for 4-6 months. 

These are general examples but you will need Dr. Nelson to do a full examination to determine what nightguard is best for you. We do not recommend store bought (non custom) guards similar to an athletic guard to protect your teeth from clenching and grinding. Many times these cause additional grinding to occur and also can cause TMJ damage when worn for extended periods.