Monday, May 27, 2013

By Erin O'breen


Botox injections are administered by trained personnel in cosmetic surgery to improve one's appearance, be it for personal reasons or for medical reasons. There are rather stringent guidelines on who should be allowed to inject botox injection, with the overall suggestion being that a trained doctor should be performing them. Injections may also be delivered by other certified medical professionals like nurses, when a doctor is supervising.

Recently, there has been some discussion as to whether dentists can prescribe and administer botox injections. Many considerations are made while determining the qualifications, and part of that are the laws of the state where it is administered.

Let's take a look at this a bit further.

What concerns are involved?

All medical professionals who administer botox treatments must receive the specialized training, including dentists. While these treatments are not extremely complicated like some procedures such as brain surgery, an elaborate knowledge of the anatomy is essential to deliver the injections safely and effectively. The certified practitioner must be able to treat and reduce the side effects that sometimes come with treatments.

In other words, dentists who are trained in prescribing and administering botox injections will likely be allowed to inject botox.

Dentists performing botox treatments

Most states in the United States now allow dentists to administer botox injections. However, the indications for injecting botox are different to regular cosmetic injections. To illustrate this, botox can be injected for the treatment of myofascial conditions and is covered by a dental plan as allowed by the Dental Board of California. The use of botox for cosmetic reasons by dentists however is illegal. The Facial Cosmetic Surgery Permit is the authority who regulates this kind of treatment. Board approved courses are taught in some states like Georgia, they lay out the exact specifications of administering the toxin, and the different types available and of course rigorous review of the anatomy of the face.

Dentists who have completed the necessary training involved for cosmetic injection are newly allowed because of approval from the Massachusetts Board of Dentistry in that state.

Botox injections by dentists have different requirements according to the particular state involved, patients must look at the rules in the state for themselves. Treatments of botox for cosmetic reasons seem to becoming more accepted for cosmetic purposes by dentists lately.

The controversy

There is a lot of discussion ongoing as to whether dentists should in fact be allowed to inject botox injections for cosmetic purposes. Discussions on a number of medical forums have constantly stated that they should be performed by trained plastic surgeons that have a better understanding of facial anatomy than dentists do. Some state boards recommendations are partly in line with this, that dentists should only perform botox treatments for purposes related to dentistry.

Not surprisingly, if you were to ask a dentist, they would say that they are qualified to deliver botox injections due to their specialized training in maxillofacial and facial anatomy, making them more than qualified. At this time, it looks like it will be years before this debate is finished.

Synopsis

Botox injections are becoming ever more popular with the demand exceeding the number of personnel able to administer the drug. With ever changing policies, state boards are now approving dentists to treat patients who would like to have botox treatments performed.




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