Dentists and Botox

[peg lateral]

Does anyone know of any good articles that discuss the ethical debate on dentists doing botox injections?

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[SeattleRDH]

No. But I worked for a dentist that was sued for administering botox to treat headaches. The patient won because the dentist did not refer her to a neurologist and was therefore treating the patient outside the scope of practice of a dentist.

 

[GTFOOMICT]

Does anyone know of any good articles that discuss the ethical debate on dentists doing botox injections?

Whatever you do, please don't argue that dentists should do it solely because "dentists know head and neck anatomy well and who else gives more injections?!".

 

[armorshell]

Not sure what you're looking for. Articles in the scientific literature? News articles? Blog posts?

Secondly, Botox is just a drug that temporarily paralyzes muscles, and it has many uses. Are you talking about Botox injection for facial cosmesis? TMD/myofascial pain relief? Gummy smile? Axillary anhidrosis? Migraines? Tension headaches?

 

[kato999]

Not sure what you're looking for. Articles in the scientific literature? News articles? Blog posts?

Secondly, Botox is just a drug that temporarily paralyzes muscles, and it has many uses. Are you talking about Botox injection for facial cosmesis? TMD/myofascial pain relief? Gummy smile? Axillary anhidrosis? Migraines? Tension headaches?

There is an article from 2 years ago in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics about treatment of gummy smiles with Botox. Pretty specific treatment and not one that is gonna really add much profitability to my practice.

I see ads for dental CE courses on Botox all the time, but I don't know any dentists that use botox as a significant revenue source.

 

[yappy]

What if you had people coming in ready to pay cash for the procedure? As is the case with cosmetics? I imagine that would be a good source of revenue? although prob not consistant or in lg volume.

 

[drhobie7]

FYI: in California the administration of Botox for cosmetic purposes is limited to MDs and single degree oral and maxillofacial surgeons with a cosmetic surgery permit.

 

[GTFOOMICT]

FYI: in California the administration of Botox for cosmetic purposes is limited to MDs and single degree oral and maxillofacial surgeons with a cosmetic surgery permit.

Which of course is BS.

You may hear more about this cuz in you're in Cali buy I heard chatter this backfiring. The few DDS OMS that have the certificate are using it as evidence of 'certification by the great state of california'. And the requirements were unusually low, thus not protecting the public anyway.

Have you run across the actual requirements?

 

[drhobie7]

Which of course is BS.

You may hear more about this cuz in you're in Cali buy I heard chatter this backfiring. The few DDS OMS that have the certificate are using it as evidence of 'certification by the great state of california'. And the requirements were unusually low, thus not protecting the public anyway.

Have you run across the actual requirements?

I took a quick peek at the CA Dental Board website. Said something about having a committee review your cases, pay your fee, and you're in business. There are less than 10 OMS in CA who went for this permit.

Botox seems pretty dang simple to me. The thing is in southern California the cosmetic realm is pretty well dominated (prs, derm, ent with facial plastics, general surgeons with cosmetic fellowship). Not sure if an OMS could compete with all them for cosmetic procedures of any kind. Seems like it would be tough to get established. I'm not too fired up on cosmetics anyway. Although I may get sucked into doing free Botox for my wife and her girlfriends.

And yeah, it's total BS to require a DDS OMS to go through a permit process to do an injection, whereas an MD can do it after intern year and step 3. The reason is obvious though. PRS has to protect the public from the dentists. HAHAHAHAHA! No, it because they know we're surgically the shiznit and are scared OMS will slowly take pieces of their business. Their scope of practice was once golden and untouched by other specialties. Now they've got medical specialties like derm and ophtho chipping away little bits. At UCLA there are some attendings who feel oculoplastics is superior for eyelid recons, and derm surg (moh's) is way to go for smaller cancer excision on the face. Beats me. I guess that's how it goes with lucrative procedures. Kinda like OMS and dental implants. Used to be implant placement cost $3000. I got a buddy out of perio who does them for $800. Seems like $1500 is now the high end in LA! Shoot, when I'm done I'm just gonna do zygoma dental implants and alveolar ridge augmentations with micro-fibula free flaps! hehehehe. I'd like to see you GPs give that a try!

 

[Livineasi]

Ummm....my Mom gets her botox done by an Nurse. She has a whole business she runs out of a Doctors office.

 

[GTFOOMICT]

Ummm....my Mom gets her botox done by an Nurse. She has a whole business she runs out of a Doctors office.

Thanks for reviving this, I forgot about it!

To the original author of the thread, what have you come up with?

This is extremely relevant and worth sharing your research or at a minimum, your sources you were able to find.