Dentists apply fillers and botox in their practice, but should only use it in their scope of practice and for a dental purpose. However, more and more dentists nowadays appear to be engaged in injecting fillers and botox for cosmetic purposes. The medical disciplinary board is now putting a stop to this. Below is an article in the May 2019 AD.
Hundreds of botox dentists spray in places they shouldn’t
More and more dentists, now estimated at three to five hundred, are turning to injecting botox and fillers for cosmetic purposes. But they are not allowed to do that at all, the medical disciplinary tribunal ruled.
The regional disciplinary board in Amsterdam ruled in a case brought against a dentist from the Gooi region. A client had suffered significant damage to her face during treatment for drooping eyelids. The disciplinary judge found that the dentist should not have dealt with the eye area. Under the BIG Act, injecting botox or fillers is what is known as a reserved procedure, which may only be performed by licensed and competent doctors.
Dentists are not qualified, according to the disciplinary board, because they are only allowed to perform treatments that serve a dental purpose. The ruling is a blow to the growing group of dentists – now estimated at three to five hundred – who have turned to botox and fillers. They dove enthusiastically into the cosmetic market in recent years.
Research by the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam found that in 2016, some 390,000 Dutch people underwent treatment with injectables, 240,000 with botox and 148,000 with fillers. The market is expected to continue to grow in the coming years.
The dentists consider themselves the appropriate party to perform the treatments because they have a trusting relationship with patients and already regularly work with injectables in and around the mouth. “The dentist is an expert in this area,” said Eric van Leeuwen, president of the Dutch Association for Dento Facial Esthetics (NVDFE). He calls the boundaries drawn in the face “arbitrary.
Instead, the Dutch Cosmetic Medicine Association (NVCG) is pleased with the ruling. , “Very nice that it is now clear that dentists are not allowed to get involved in this,” thinks chairman Catharina Meijer. She sees a proliferation of dentists, as well as general practitioners and even beauticians turning to botox. ”That’s a thorn in our side. We want the Health Care Inspectorate to crack down on dentists.”
The Health Care Institute, a government agency, is working on a quality framework. This states who is competent to perform which cosmetic procedures. Sources around the institute expect dentists to be out of the loop here as well.
Source: ad.co.uk
