Dentists Performing Botox Injections

By Erin O'breen


Whether wishing to make an improvement in appearance for medical reasons, or because of a personal issue, specially trained medical staff are available to deliver Botox injections for these purposes. 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. Of course, other trained personnel such as nurses can also inject botox but in the presence of a trained physician.

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.

We will examine this in closer detail.

Which are the points in question?

Well, the issues with dentists injecting botox are the same with any health care professional injecting it - it is all about whether they are trained to do so. 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. With injections such as these, there are sometimes side effects, and they can only be properly dealt with by a highly trained expert.

Dentists are generally approved to inject and prescribe botox after they have completed the training for this procedure.

Botox administration by Dentists

The prescription and administration of botox treatments are allowed by dentists in the majority of the United States. Botox injection procedure is not the same as cosmetic injections of other kinds. 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. 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.

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 debate

Allowing dentists to administer botox to treat cosmetic issues has people debating if this should be approved. 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. This concurs with some of the state board's guidance of dentists only using botox for dental related procedures.

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. The argument will likely be ongoing over the next several years, until it is resolved.

Synopsis

Botox injections are becoming ever more popular with the demand exceeding the number of personnel able to administer the drug. Dentists are now getting approved to provide botox treatments with state boards issuing new guidelines constantly.




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