Dentists hit by Botox advert ban
DENTISTS will be banned from advertising Botox treatments at their practices, the General Dental Council has confirmed.
The Council has ruled that botulinum toxin, fillers and other non-surgical cosmetic procedures are not part of dentistry and cannot be included in promotional material for dental surgeries.
It is preparing new guidance, outlining its position.
The issue of non-surgical cosmetic procedures was included in the work of the GDC's Scope of Practice working group. This featured a public consultation in which stakeholder organisations were asked for their views on a range of issues relating to the roles of dental team members.
The consultation included a question on whether dermal fillers and Botox can be considered to be dentistry.
The GDC's Standards Committee and the Scope of Practice working group recommended to the Council that non-surgical procedures "should not be considered legitimate additions to dentistry".
Four out of five statements designed to distance dentistry from beauty treatments were passed, including that "The provision of such procedures should be advertised or otherwise publicised separately".