How Much Will Botox Shrink My Masseter Muscles?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I just had a question regarding the masseter muscle and the buccal fat injections to the jaw angles.

1, Will the buccal fat injections look defined or just fat/bloated?

2. How much do you think my masseters would shrink from botox injections, would I be able to chew gum without them revealing themselves? 

I’ve seen some dramatic results from botox injections in the masseters so I’m hoping I would be able to achieve a result where they are virtually non detectable, if you’d make a guess, do you think that’s possible?

3. Let’s say the buccal fat injections does not provide enough augmentation to the angles of the jaw, is it possible at a later time to inject fillers there to augment it even more? 

Thanks again!

A: In answer to your questions:

1) Fat injections will not create a sharp or defined bony look. They create a softer effect as is is a soft material that pushed out on the tissues.

2) How much the masseter muscles will shrink depends on the dose/units of Botox injected. I am not sure that will ever shrink enough to not be visible when maximally working them like in chewing gum….but it may be possible.

3) You can always add synthetic fillers after fat injections, that is not a problem.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana