Are Dental Hygienists Allowed To Do Botox?

Doctors aren’t the only ones who can administer Botox and similar botulinum toxin products. While rules vary from state to state, medical professionals including dentists, dental hygienists, nurses and others who have completed a Botox and dermal filler training course may be allowed to provide cosmetic injectable treatments.

If you’re a dental hygienist, you’ll have to contact your state’s governing body to determine your eligibility, but this general information may be helpful.

Botox is simple and safe for most patients and can provide remarkable results eliminating or reducing lines and wrinkles, so it’s no wonder that millions of doses are administered each year. Botox is among the most common cosmetic procedures because it works and is minimally invasive, requiring no surgery and only a few minutes in the treatment room.

Injectables including Botox and fillers are popular with health care providers as well. These treatments are low-risk, easy to perform, largely free of side effects or complications, profitable and involve cash-paying patients so there’s no need for billing and collection efforts.

Can A Dentist Or Dental Hygienist Do Botox?

A dentist or dental hygienist may be allowed to administer injectables, but regulations vary by state. In many cases, a trained dental professional can provide aesthetic injectables at a licensed practice. In some states, however, cosmetic injectables are limited to dentists and oral surgeons, meaning that even strictly supervised dental hygienists are prohibited from giving the injections.

Some states also place restrictions on how a provider can use Botox. State law may require that dental professionals only inject Botox and related products when needed for dental reasons, like treatment of clenching, grinding and the jaw disorder TMD. In those cases, no dental professional can administer Botox for cosmetic purposes.

What States Allow Dental Hygienists To Do Botox?

The first state to open the door for dental hygienists to perform Botox injections was Nevada. In that state, hygienists can do injections when directly supervised by a dentist or oral surgeon.

About half of states allow dentists to do Botox for cosmetic reasons, and rules in those states for dental hygienists vary. States where dentists can do aesthetic Botox include, when last we checked:

• Wisconsin
• Maryland
• Iowa
• Florida
• Connecticut

New York also allows dental practices to provide this service with significant restrictions.

In some states, there are no specific rules about whether hygienists can provide dermal fillers or botulinum toxin injections. Regulating bodies in those states either take no action regarding the practice or evaluate cases individually when they come up.

What Training Does A Dental Hygienist Need To Do Botox?

As with other aspects of this issue, whether training and certification are required for dentists and dental hygienists who want to administer Botox and dermal fillers varies from one state to the next. In most cases, certification is required.

There may be a requirement that the certification course include specific things, like how to administer the injections, how to handle side effects and more.

Dentox provides Botox and dermal filler training and certification. Consider attending one of our in-person one-day classes around the nation, attend live online training or choose recorded on-demand training that you can view anytime and anywhere. Whatever option you choose, you’ll get the same high-quality instruction from Dentox founder Dr. Howard Katz.

To learn more, reach out now – or register right away for the class that fits your needs.