6 Popular Cosmetic Uses for Botox Injections

First approved by the FDA in 2002 as a way to temporarily improve the appearance of moderate to severe wrinkles, Botox® Cosmetic has been the most popular nonsurgical anti-aging treatment for the better part of two decades — and counting.   

In 2022 alone, nearly 9 million adults in the United States opted to turn back the hands of time with Botox and similar neuromodulator injections. Here, Dr. Annie Aboulian and our team at Burbank Dental Studio discuss the ins and outs of Botox, including six of its most popular cosmetic applications. 

The original neuromodulator

Refined from the natural bacterium Clostridium botulinum, Botox blocks the transmission of nerve signals that keep your expressive facial muscles in a perpetual state of contraction — and make your dynamic wrinkles appear more prominent.  

When we inject tiny amounts of this highly purified neuromodulator protein at specific points of your facial anatomy, contracted muscles relax, overlying lines and wrinkles disappear, and your skin looks naturally refreshed.

Six popular Botox applications

As the gold standard for long-lasting wrinkle reduction, Botox can transform your appearance in just one quick and easy treatment, taking you from “worn out and harried” to “youthful and self-assured” in no time. 

Let’s take a closer look at six specific ways it can do just that:  

1. Smooth worry lines

Botox is commonly used to smooth out worry lines — those deep horizontal creases that appear across your forehead from normal facial expressions. Worry line treatment involves getting five tiny injections at specific points in your forehead muscles.  

2. Diminish angry 11s 

Botox is also the leading solution for “angry 11s,” the severe vertical furrows — or so-called frown lines — that mark the area between your brows and make you look perpetually angry or concerned. Angry 11s are diminished with five small injections in the muscles between your brows and in your forehead.  

3. Minimize crow’s feet 

Crow’s feet, or the fine lines that extend from the corners of your eyes, can also temporarily disappear with the magic of Botox. 

Indeed, banishing crinkly “laugh lines” has always been, and remains, one of the neuromodulator’s most popular cosmetic applications, using just three small injections in the muscles that frame the outer corner of each eye.   

4. Prevent wrinkles

Botox is an anti-aging treatment that works on two levels. As a facial rejuvenation treatment it, smooths out prominent lines and wrinkles, and as a facial “prejuvenation” treatment, it helps to prevent wrinkle formation in the first place. 

Regular preventive Botox sessions are increasingly popular among younger adults who have started noticing the early signs of wrinkles and lines — and want to halt their formation and make them disappear with smaller “Baby Botox” dosages.

5. Get fuller lips

Another popular aesthetic use for Botox? Making thinner lips look subtly fuller. 

Injecting this potent cosmetic agent into the corners of your mouth and along the edges of your lips relaxes the muscles around your upper lip, causing it to turn upward a little bit. This slight “lip flip,” or eversion, makes your lips look fuller (without increasing their volume).     

6. Slim your jawline

When it’s injected into the muscles (masseters) that control your ability to open and close your mouth, Botox can ease various conditions caused by tight jaw muscles, including teeth grinding (bruxism) and TMJ pain.

“Masseter Botox” treatments have a cosmetic upside, too. They can soften the shape of your face and make your jaw appear slimmer.   

Are you ready to turn back the clock?

If you’re tired of being told that you look exhausted, worried, or upset when you’re none of the above — or if you’re looking to prevent dynamic wrinkle formation, get fuller lips, or subtly slim your jawline — Botox can help.

Give us a call today to learn more, or click online to request an appointment at Burbank Dental Studio in Burbank, California, at your convenience.