I am Dr. Jaeho Jeon, an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon at ARC Dental Clinic near Gwanghwamun, Seoul City Hall, Jongno, Euljiro, and Myeongdong, and a Visiting Professor at Seoul National University Dental Hospital. Here, I work diligently on implant placement and revision surgery, difficult impacted wisdom tooth extractions, treatments to preserve natural teeth, veneers, and TMJ care.
In my practice, I often receive this question from patients.
"Doctor, do dentists really do jaw Botox?"\n
At first, the question caught me a little off guard. Patients clearly know that dentists treat cavities, extract wisdom teeth, and place implants — yet, strangely, many people think of jaw Botox as an injection you only get at a dermatology or plastic surgery clinic.
Of course, it's perfectly understandable. When most people hear "jaw Botox," the first thing that comes to mind is this.
"Botox is an injection that slims your face."
And indeed, for someone whose chewing muscles — including the masseter — are highly developed, Botox gradually reduces muscle volume, so you can expect the jawline to look softer and slimmer than before.
So I imagine that among those searching for "Gwanghwamun jaw Botox," quite a few are looking into it for their facial shape rather than for jaw joint pain.
However, the jaw Botox performed at a dental clinic — and especially in oral and maxillofacial surgery — starts from a slightly different question.
"How much slimmer will my face get?"
Just as important is the question,
"Why did this muscle develop so much in the first place?"\n
The Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Approach to Jaw Botox
\n
For patients who come in for jaw Botox, we don't just tidy up the jawline — we approach it from a different angle.
- Do you habitually clench your teeth?
- Do you grind your teeth while you sleep?
- Do you tend to chew tough foods only on one side?
- Are there areas where your teeth are noticeably worn or repeatedly chipping?
- Do you wake up every morning with a stiff jaw or tired temples?
- And is there anything abnormal in the jaw joint itself?
Because the jaw is not simply the outline at the bottom of your face. It is a vital functional organ used every day for chewing, biting, speaking, and smiling.
Simply put, the jaw is not a decorative piece that only needs to look good — it is a part that works quite hard all day long. So what happens if you chew on one side only, clench your teeth, and grind them every single night?
For the masseter and temporalis muscles — our chewing muscles — it is essentially working a night shift with no breaks. So it is hardly strange for the muscles to grow larger, feel stiff, and for the left-right balance to shift.
Today, for those of you considering Gwanghwamun jaw Botox, I want to share — in a fun and easy way — how jaw Botox at a dental clinic is different, why oral and maxillofacial surgery looks at the masseter and temporalis together, how we approach the jaw joint, teeth grinding, and facial asymmetry, and whether jaw Botox at an OMFS dental clinic truly means something beyond just slimming the face. Hehe. With a story about my wife to go along. 😂
I give my wife Botox when the time comes.
When explaining jaw Botox to patients in the exam room, a single picture can often be easier to understand than words.
Actually, there was one thing I worried about the most while writing this article.
Originally, I planned to show before-and-after photos of my wife's jaw Botox treatment.
However, since emphasizing the effect with before-and-after treatment photos may not be appropriate in medical advertising, I decided to exclude the photos.
So I slightly adapted the real story between my wife and me and turned it into a comic.
Please enjoy it, and in the following sections, I will explain in more detail.
🎬 ARC COMIC #01 "The Fate(?) of a Honey Badger Who Loved Beef Jerky Too Much"
(My wife said she "never imagined it would be turned into a comic," but she cooperated for the sake of the blog.)
Basically, my wife is a woman with quite developed jaw muscles. Hahahaha.
Actually, I never told her, but before getting Botox, her jaw muscles stood out so much that her overall impression looked a little strong. -_-;;
And my wife naturally has a relatively short jaw.
In such cases, some people use their chewing muscles a lot during the chewing process, and my wife indeed had quite developed masseter muscles.
By the way...
Her hobby is tearing into beef jerky while watching Netflix at night.
Have you ever seen a house that stocks beef jerky by variety? -_-;;
Ours does...
Anyway, I respect her hobbies.
But the problem was...
She always chewed the jerky only on her right side.
One day, as I was casually watching my wife chewing jerky like usual, I was suddenly startled.
"Wait..." "Why is only her right jaw so big?"
Her right masseter alone was so unusually developed that it looked like she had a piece of candy tucked inside her cheek.
At that moment, my wife said to me,
"Honey, I think my teeth hurt a bit. ㅠㅠ" "My jaw feels kind of stiff too. ㅠㅠ"
I was so dumbfounded I had to say something.
"It would be stranger if your jaw were fine after chewing jerky like that..." 😂
In the end, as her husband, I decided to show the utmost care I could give.
It was, of course, TMJ Botox.
As an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, I carefully examined the condition of both the masseter and temporalis muscles together and proceeded with the treatment with the utmost caution.
But after the treatment, what I remember most was not the change in her face, but one thing my wife said.
"Actually... before we got married, I used to get jaw Botox regularly at a dermatology clinic."
Why is she only telling me now?
She told me about her double eyelid surgery long after,
and she only confessed about the Botox a long time after we got married.
Honestly, at first I felt a little hurt.
But after thinking it over, I felt more sorry than hurt.
Because I had been looking so carefully at my patients' facial asymmetry and chewing muscles, yet - as they say, it is darkest under the lamp - I had failed to properly see the lifestyle habits and muscle condition of the person closest to me.
"I thought Botox just didn't work on me."
My wife said she used to get jaw Botox regularly at a neighborhood dermatology clinic, about every six months.
But she said she couldn't really tell a big difference.
So at some point,
"This is too much hassle."
she thought, and simply stopped getting it,
and as time went by, her chewing muscles developed again.
I told her with a smile,
"It's not that it didn't work - maybe you just couldn't feel the change back then......?"
Back then, she had more facial fat than now and was younger, so small changes in her jawline might not have been noticeable.
Also, the change from jaw Botox varies from person to person depending on facial shape and how developed the chewing muscles are, so even with the same treatment, the change you feel can differ.
My wife, who used to be told she looked young for her age, one day started looking in the mirror and asking me,
"Don't I look too much like an old lady these days?"
Every time, I give her the same answer.
"At your age, you're supposed to hear you look like an old lady..."
......... What answer was my wife expecting? 😮💨😮💨😮💨
Jaw Botox Is Not a Youth-Restoring Injection
As you can see, getting Botox in your jaw does not make you younger. Patients often ask, "Will I look younger if I get jaw Botox?" and my answer is, "Jaw Botox is not a youth-restoring injection."
Instead, as the chewing muscles shrink, your jawline can look a little tidier and more defined. After all, when your facial margins slim down, it gives the effect of having lost weight, so naturally you look prettier. Hahaha
Now my wife periodically asks me,
"My face is looking a bit wide these days. Don't you think it's time for Botox??"
All while tearing into beef jerky at night.....
Okay, I've wandered off topic. ^^; Anyway, there's one thing I want to say today.
An OMFS Dental Clinic Also Performs Jaw Botox
\n
However, we don't think of jaw Botox purely as a cosmetic procedure to slim the face. Of course, patients who want Botox for cosmetic reasons also come to us, but I want to emphasize that ARC Dental Clinic's Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery first checks whether you clench your teeth, grind them at night, chew on one side only, or have jaw joint pain or facial asymmetry — and then establishes a treatment plan.
Of course, not every TMJ patient needs Botox. In fact, many patients improve significantly with physical therapy and lifestyle corrections alone. But when the tension in the chewing muscles is determined to be the cause of the pain, jaw joint Botox can be helpful.
ARC Dental Clinic's Jaw Botox Injection Sites
ARC Dental Clinic injects Botox into both the masseter (jaw muscle) and the temporalis (temple muscle)!
ARC Dental Clinic OMFS Jaw Botox
Most people think jaw Botox means injecting only into the masseter, the muscle around the jaw. The masseter is a representative chewing muscle that runs from below the cheekbone to the lower jawbone, and it is the muscle responsible for the greatest force when chewing food.
If you frequently eat tough foods, habitually clench your teeth, or grind them repeatedly, the masseter gradually develops, which can make the jaw look wider or the face look asymmetrical.
But here is a fact many people don't know. The masseter is not the only muscle working when we chew.
The temporalis, located at the temples, is also an important chewing muscle that works together with the masseter when we chew. Simply put... when the masseter works the night shift, the temporalis works the night shift too. ^^;
Their teamwork is so good that if you tell the masseter, "Take a break from today," the temporalis will sometimes say, "Fine, I'll work the night shift then," and take over the job. 😂
\n
That's why some people who only got Botox in the masseter say their temples actually looked more prominent. In reality, this is a change that can appear when the temporalis — the temple area — is relatively used more. Just from this, you can see that the chewing muscles are not the jaw muscle alone, but the temporalis working alongside it.
Therefore, ARC Dental Clinic's Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery makes it a principle to inject Botox into both the masseter and the temporalis together.
Therefore, the jaw Botox performed at ARC Dental Clinic uses a slightly larger injection volume than typical cosmetic jaw Botox.
The reason is simple. We look at not just the masseter, but the 'entire chewing muscle system.' If we only cared about slimming the face, we could just talk about the masseter.
But oral and maxillofacial surgery thinks a little differently.
"Why did this muscle develop?" "What effect is it having on the jaw joint?" "Is the balance of the chewing muscles okay?"
We check these things first. The masseter and temporalis are muscles that chew food together and move the jaw together. That's why ARC Dental Clinic performs jaw Botox treatment considering the masseter and temporalis together.
Among those considering Gwanghwamun jaw Botox, quite a few have faces that look wide not because their actual lower jawbone is large, but because of a developed masseter. In such cases, jaw Botox alone can give you a noticeably softer jawline.
I believe this is the biggest difference between typical cosmetic jaw Botox and the jaw Botox performed in oral and maxillofacial surgery.
In the end, even with the same Botox, where and how much to inject is determined not by the drug, but by the diagnosis. And that diagnosis begins by looking not only at the face, but at the jaw joint and chewing function together.
These days, I can tell without my wife even saying anything. When she starts looking in the mirror more often than usual, it means it's time for Botox. Hehe. But strangely... that timing always seems to be proportional to her beef jerky consumption. -_- That correlation remains an unsolved mystery in our household.
Conclusion
So far, I've shared the story of jaw Botox performed at an oral and maxillofacial surgery dental clinic. Jaw Botox is not simply a cosmetic procedure to slim the face. It can help relieve jaw joint pain, teeth grinding, and teeth-clenching symptoms by reducing the tension and burden on overdeveloped jaw muscles, and at the same time, as the developed masseter shrinks in volume, you can also look forward to a softer, slimmer jawline.
Reducing jaw joint discomfort while also achieving a slimmer jawline — that is ARC Dental Clinic's jaw Botox treatment. I hope that those who come to us with jaw joint issues can achieve not only functional improvement, but also a natural change in their facial line.
I hope this article has been of some help to those considering jaw Botox. Hehe
This has been Dr. Jaeho Jeon, an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon at ARC Dental Clinic and Visiting Professor at Seoul National University Dental Hospital, working diligently near Gwanghwamun, Seoul City Hall, Jongno, Euljiro, and Myeongdong on implant placement and revision surgery, difficult impacted wisdom tooth extractions, treatments to preserve natural teeth, veneers, and TMJ care!
Everyone, please take good care of your health in this hot summer, and I hope you have cool, comfortable days. Have a healthy summer — for your jaw and your body. Thank you. 😊