Stop YouTube learnings: Dental Council’s guidelines to maxillofacial surgeons for cosmetic procedures

With botched hair transplant cases rising in India, the Dental Council of India (DCI) in a detailed guideline advised oral and maxillofacial surgeons performing aesthetic procedures to avoid doing aesthetic procedures based on YouTube learning.

The guidelines from the apex dental body in India came after the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) ethics and medical registration board for the first time issued norms for doctors doing aesthetic treatments.

The guidelines from DCI state that a plan for emergencies should be made well in advance keeping the nursing staff in the loop.

“A plan for emergencies should be in place and all the nursing staff should be familiar with the plan. It may be noted that watching workshops/ YouTube is not adequate training. It is ideal to have a standby anesthetist,” the DCI’s guideline said.

The norms from DCI came a day after a 30-year-old man died due to multiple organ failure after undergoing a hair transplant at a clinic in Delhi.

Earlier this year, the Delhi High Court had directed the Delhi police to act against salons where hair transplantation treatment was undertaken by technicians or unqualified professionals without any medical supervision.

The DCI’s guidelines said aesthetic procedures can be performed by Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons after adequate training as per the curriculum.

“It is suggested that Oral & Maxillofacial surgeons who wish to practice these procedures should be adequately knowledgeable and trained and have adequate infrastructure and manpower,” the guidelines said.

In the newly issued norms, the DCI said procedures like hair transplants may have complications and require skill and training in appropriate patient selection and surgical technique, and appropriate post-procedure care.

“These procedures are not an emergency procedure and hence at no circumstance an untrained person can perform these procedures stating "exceptional circumstance",” it added.

The practising doctors welcomed the move from DCI and NMC but also called for a regulatory framework for checking quackery in aesthetic and cosmetic procedures.

“The guidelines from DCI should be seen as a positive step. In the national capital, there are a lot of quacks who are practicing these procedures and fatalities are taking place. The DCI norms should help in checking the quacks practising such procedures,” Dr. Gopal, owner of a private clinic, Creative Aesthetics, said.

Dr. Richie Gupta, Director, and HOD, of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh said there is a pressing need for having a regulatory framework for cosmetic surgeries in the country.

“Any procedure, however minor it may be, always carries some bit of complications. Even a simple injection administration during cosmetic procedures can lead to anaphylaxis and death,” he said.