Cosmetic procedures are medical or cosmetic interventions that alter a person’s physical appearance. They typically focus on enhancing features, rejuvenating the skin or reshaping parts of the body. These procedures can be surgical or non-surgical, according to the website Safety in Beauty. The non-surgical ones can vary from acne treatments to Botox injection.
The implant specialist in digital dentistry and orthodontics, Rose Vieira, explains that “over the past 10 years dentists were authorized to use hyaluronic acid, Botox and perform some facial procedures, like double chin reduction.”
For these kinds of treatments, dentists are already allowed to perform them right after graduating, but if they want, there are some short courses they can take to refine their technique such as: face-to-face course on botulinum toxin (Botox) and hyaluronic acid filling – with a workload of 32 hours -, facial harmonization course with Botox and fillers and many others.
Plastic surgeries
Currently, there’s an authorization process underway in which the Federal Council of Dentistry (CFO) is trying to “authorize dentists to perform some aesthetic procedures on the face, such as rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty (surgery focused on removing loose skin from the eyelids) and facelifts (rhytidoplasty)”, explained Rose.
That caused a disagreement between the CFO and the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), because the CFO seeks to qualify dentists to perform the procedures mentioned above, but the CFM defends that plastic surgeries are procedures exclusive to the medical field. According to the president of the CFO, Claudio Miyake, in an interview for the Brazilian platform UOL,“the authorization will take place gradually, starting from a specific certification that is currently in its final stage of development.”
The CFO defends that orofacial harmonization is in accordance with the technical and legal criteria of the profession, and is essential for improving the skills of dentists. However, the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (SBCP) expresses concern about the possibility of trivializing invasive surgeries by professionals with less surgical training – like dentists -, claiming that this can lead to serious complications.
“In my opinion, it has to be a well-directed thing, and if it is approved, it should be for specialization in the maxillary mouth, an area that dentists dominate. The complications are also a huge problem. You take a course and learn the cosmetic procedure, but each person has a different physiognomy, each person has a reaction to a certain product used and the complications that it might cause is something to worry about”, says the dentist.
Based on data from the CFO, the profession ended last year with over 4,000 registered dental surgeons specialized in orofacial harmonization. The numbers have been growing since 2021, in which there were 908 specialists in the field, and by 2023, that number had reached 2,675.
Does the place where you have plastic surgery affect anything?
When cosmetic procedures are performed, you don’t need a hospital – in many cases, the dental office already has all the necessary equipment. However, the clinic needs to adapt its structure so the professional can perform the treatment perfectly and safely. “Minor procedures can be done in the dentist’s office, but it depends on the comorbidity that the patient has. For example, if they have a heart problem or chronic diseases, it has to be done in a hospital. It’s a delicate situation. The errors are more often related to the technique used rather than the place that the procedure was performed”, explains Rose.
Is there a difference between a procedure done by a surgeon and a dentist?
A doctor has more years of study. Medical school takes 6 years, not to mention 3 additional years of residency in General Surgery, followed by another 3 years in Plastic Surgery. In comparison, dental school usually takes up to 5 years. However, if you pursue a specialization in the maxillofacial area, as Rose Vieira mentioned, it requires an additional 3 years.
“Depending on the procedure, the doctor has much more capacity to perform it. Surgeries are complicated. Performing surgery as a dentist is different from performing it as a doctor. In medicine, you have to study about the interruption of vessels, veins that interfere with the whole body, which is not a deep topic in dentistry. We do have some of that knowledge, but we cannot say that it is similar to medicine, which is much more demanding and it requires a more intense workload”, clarifies the professional.
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The article below was edited by Isabela Theodoro.
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