Dentists Administering Botox Treatments

By Erin O'breen

There are different reasons that people may wish to have Botox injections administered by a trained professional, sometimes it's for medical issues, and other times it's simply to enhance the appearance of the patient. Performing Botox injections should be done by a doctor in most cases, as the standards that are required to deliver these injections are very strictly enforced. Injections may also be delivered by other certified medical professionals like nurses, when a doctor is supervising.

Inquiries have been made as of late about botox injections that are prescribed and delivered by a dentist. There can be a number of factors that play a role in deciding this, including state laws and guidelines.

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

Which are the points in question?

All medical professionals who administer botox treatments must receive the specialized training, including dentists. For these treatments to be administered, it takes someone who knows precisely how the body works, who has had significant medical training, it's not a difficult procedure, but it takes professional skill. 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

At this time, dentists are approved for botox injections in most states in America. There is a difference between standard injections for cosmetic reasons, and the way botox is administered. A dental plan in the state of California would permit a dentist to treat myofascial conditions with botox, the Dental Board of California certifies this. It is not however legal for a dentist to use botox to treat cosmetic issues. Administering it for this reason involves the Facial Cosmetic Surgery Permit to approve of the procedure. Within the state of Georgia, dentists need to take a 21 hour board approved course that details out facial anatomy and the exact techniques of using botox and the available market forms of it.

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.

It is evident that rules are different between states, and it is always worthwhile checking whether it is okay as a dentist to inject botox in patients. From observable data as of late, it looks like it's moving toward dentists being approved for cosmetic administration of botox treatments.

The controversy

Some debate is happening presently for and against dentists being approved to cosmetically treat patients using botox injections. 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. The board in the state has some stipulations that agree with this assessment, and say only dentistry related botox treatments should be approved for dentists.

However, the dentists would argue otherwise, stating that their knowledge of facial and maxillofacial anatomy is good if not better than many physicians, thus making them the right people to administer botox. It would appear that this argument will continue on for years to come.

Synopsis

As more people are in the market for this type of procedure, the medical field is looking for new ways to meet the needs of patients who would like botox injections. Dentists are now getting approved to provide botox treatments with state boards issuing new guidelines constantly.