The Massachusetts Board of Dentistry has released a policy advisory that allows dentists to use facial injectables such as Botox and dermal fillers.
According to the statement, the board has affirmed the need for proper live patient training in these procedures within the definition of the Massachusetts Dental Practice Act to "diagnose, treat, operate, or prescribe for any disease, pain, injury, deficiency, deformity, or other condition of the human teeth, alveolar process, gums, or jaws, and associated parts, intraorally or extraorally, or if he either offers or undertakes by any method to diagnose, treat, operate, or prescribe for any disease, pain, injury, deficiency, deformity, or other condition of the same."
This includes the oral and maxillofacial areas where Botox and dermal procedures are routinely performed for dental aesthetic and dental therapeutic purposes within the scope of practice of dentistry, according to Louis Malcmacher, DDS, president of the American Academy of Facial Esthetics (AAFE).
Botox and dermal fillers education is being taught at more than 50 dental university and dental society continuing education programs for general dentists, Dr. Malcmacher noted.
AAFE offers courses that meet the criteria established by the Massachusetts dental board and the state boards for comprehensive training for Botox and dermal fillers in dentistry and medicine, he added. The first Massachusetts course will take place May 2-4, 2013, in Boston.
