What BOTOX ® Cosmetic Can Do
Although it is a highly effective cosmetic treatment, it can’t be used to treat all wrinkles. However, it can be used on a number of wrinkles that develop with age. This includes:
- Horizontal lines on the forehead
- Vertical lines between the eyebrows
- Crow’s feet at the corners of the eye
- Bunny lines on the nose
- “Lipstick lines” around the mouth
There are some other places that BOTOX ® Cosmetic is sometimes used. During your consultation, we will help you understand what is causing certain wrinkles and how you can best eliminate them.
How BOTOX ® Cosmetic Works
It works by relaxing muscles involved in the creation of certain wrinkles.
Some wrinkles are caused by a phenomenon similar to “muscle memory.” Think of how many times a day you smile, frown, tighten your brows in concentration, squint your eyes, or do any of a hundred other expressions that call on your muscles to contract. Over time, those muscles become conditioned to contract. As with other muscles, they try to anticipate demands, so that, instead of responding to hundreds of separate calls to contract, they simply stay contracted.
This is what creates many of the common wrinkles that develop, although skin changes also contribute to the development of crinkled skin that is less flexible.
BOTOX ® Cosmetic injections cause these muscles to stop tensing and relax, which allows the skin to smooth.
Is BOTOX ® Cosmetic Safe?
Many people are concerned about the safety of BOTOX ® Cosmetic, but in truth it’s one of the safest cosmetic treatments in use today. Millions of people across the US and around the world receive BOTOX ® Cosmetic injections, and studies have shown that they are very safe.
For example, a 2014 study looked at over 20,000 cosmetic procedures, including BOTOX ® Cosmetic injections as well as filler injections, laser skin treatments, and more. In this study, there were no serious adverse outcomes, and only a very few minor adverse events, a total of 48 events associated with 36 different procedures. For BOTOX ® Cosmetic, they found that only about one in 3333 procedures will cause even minor side effects.
Although BOTOX ® Cosmetic contains botulinum toxin, it is in very small doses, which causes very local effects. The biggest risk is that an injector will make a mistake and inject too much or inject it in the wrong place, so it’s important to make sure you work with an experienced injector with good knowledge of the facial anatomy, such as a dentist who is trained in neuromuscular dentistry.
To learn more about BOTOX ® Cosmetic in Rochester, please call (585) 244-3337 or email us for an appointment with our dentists at Contemporary Dentistry today.
