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How Appropriate Is Botox In The Dental Office?

How Appropriate Is Botox In The Dental Office?
by Christine Colfer, RDH

There is a new treatment option making its way into dental offices around the country. It’s a little bit controversial but enormously innovative. The dental professionals that choose to offer this treatment and embrace its potential in the dental field will need to get past some preconceived notions first though. That is because this innovative new treatment is Botox and it is causing a stir in the dental field. The name Botox often conjures up images of aging movie stars seeking a fountain of youth, but if we look a little closer, we just might find that Botox is more than just skin deep and may have a lot to offer dentistry.

The underlying stigma that surrounds Botox treatment in the dental setting exists for various reasons. Botox has not traditionally been used in dental practice, and it is viewed as a mainly cosmetic procedure that should only exist in the world of plastic surgeons and dermatologists. A viewpoint like this is limiting the potential that Botox has for the treatment of numerous dental-related conditions. It absolutely has a place in dental offices and can be used for much more than cosmetic purposes.

Botox has had a long and turbulent road to its eventual place in medicine today. Botulism, a foodborne illness that causes paralysis and death, was first reported and studied in the 1800’s. The bacterium toxin, Botulinum, was isolated to be the cause of this illness. It was so dangerous that it was even considered as a possible weapon of biologic warfare during World War II. Fortunately, it was never used. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that doctors began testing Botulinum’s muscle paralytic effects on patients with various muscular disorders2. In the late 1970’s the FDA approved it for the treatment of Strabismus (cross-eyed) patients1. It was during this treatment path that Botulinum was inadvertently found to decrease facial wrinkles. Not long after, Botox gained FDA approval for cosmetic use, and the rest is history.

Botox has since garnered worldwide favor as the treatment of choice for retaining a youthful appearance. For this reason, it has mainly been administered by plastic surgeons and dermatologists. That is about to change as state dental boards are increasingly in support of allowing dentists to offer Botox treatments to patients. As a result, dentists across the country are beginning to seek Botox training.

Read full article on Today's RDH.