Facial Injections

What are facial injections?

Just under the skin of our faces, we all have facial muscles. These muscles control our facial expressions such as smiling, frowning, and pursing our lips.

When these muscles contract, the skin on our face moves. As we get older, the facial muscles can also cause wrinkles in the overlying skin along the muscles’ action line.

Facial injections relax these muscle contractions and allow the skin to become smooth again. This results in a more youthful appearance of the face. Injections can be used to treat frown lines between the brows, horizontal forehead lines and “crow’s feet” at the corner of the eyes.

The injection is based on a sterile, pharmaceutical-grade protein that targets part of the mechanism involved in muscle contraction. It reduces the contraction strength of the muscle and it becomes more relaxed.

While your body eliminates the medication of the injection quickly, the effect of the muscle relaxation can last between 3 to 6 months.

After this time, the muscles will regain their ability to contract as normal.

Facial Injections

Facial injectable treatment

The consultation for a facial injection treatment can generally be done in a 30 minute appointment. At this visit, you will be able to explain to your dentist what results you would like to achieve and discuss your areas of concern.

Depending on your case, preferred outcome and problem area, your dentist will decide the number of units that need to be injected. The dentist will usually start with a conservative amount, and if the desired results aren’t achieved after two weeks, at a review appointment more product can be injected.

Our dental professionals will discuss aftercare, risks and potential problems, and you will have the chance to ask questions before proceeding.

The first treatment step is to allocate and mark the areas where the injections will go. The dentist will ask you to move the facial muscles in the area that is to be treated. As an example, you may be asked to frown, smile, squint, or raise your eyebrows.

Once the marking process is completed, the dentist will inject one or more units per site. The medication is administered by an injection into the target muscles from the outside of the face, using very fine, sterile, disposable needle. The injection may sting a little.

Some people may choose to use some topical anaesthetic available over the counter from the chemist prior to treatment. The dentist may also apply a cold pack to the area before proceeding.

After treatment, the area may be tingly or itchy, red, or bleed briefly before feeling completely normal. Treatment results will not start to take affect for 3-7 days and the full result of the injections may not be felt for up to two weeks.

At your review appointment two weeks after treatment, your dentist will assess the results and administer further doses should they be required.

Injections for TMD or Bruxism

Injections may form part of the solution for patients who have been diagnosed with bruxism, temporomandibular disorders (TMD) or facial pain.

If the condition has a muscular component, your dentist will be able to determine the dose of medication required depending on the severity of your case.

The injection sites are specifically chosen to target the muscles that are contributing to your condition. By reducing the ability of these muscles to contract as strongly, it is thought to reduce the tension placed on the TMJ/surrounding tissues. This leads to relief of symptoms, including a reduction in teeth grinding.

Muscle relaxing injections offer a reversible, temporary and minimally invasive treatment option. The dentist may be able to use this as a diagnostic tool when trying to determine the exact nature/origin of your facial pain.

These injections may also be used in conjunction with splint therapy, which can further alleviate symptoms.

Before facial injection treatment

Before we start your facial injection treatment, it is essential that you read all information provided (including consent forms) by our practices. You should also complete a medical history form, and ask any questions you may have.

Your dentist will inform you about a list of things you should be avoiding prior to treatment such as alcohol, blood thinning medication and applying make-up.

Please be aware that this treatment should not be undertaken by women who are pregnant or breast feeding or who are contemplating doing so.

Facial Injections around eyes

Facial injectable treatment after-care

The treated area may show redness and some bruising after the injections. This will calm down after a 48 hour period. Your dentist will also give you a list with activities you should avoid after your treatment such as having facials, travelling for the next 24 hours, or sauna visits.

If you experience unexpected or undesirable post-operative symptoms such as pain, swelling or bruising that persists for longer than 48 hours; worsens over time; or occurs remote from the site of injection, you should contact your dentist immediately.

Please make sure to return for your scheduled follow-up appointment, even if you are satisfied with results.

Are there any risks involved in facial injections?

As injections are medications they may cause unwanted complications or side effects. The dentist will discuss these with you prior to commencing treatment.

In general, injections have a predictable and reliable outcome with few side effects. Side effects may include bruising, bleeding, itching, pain, rash, redness, soreness and swelling. These are generally only experienced for a few days after treatment.

Your dentist will provide you with a full list of after-care instructions in order to minimise side effects.

You can also read more about the treatment in our Facial Injections FAQ.