The New York State Dental Association recently responded to a USA Today editorial that said oral surgeons should not be allowed to perform cosmetic procedures, according to a USA Today report.
The original USA Today editorial said an increasing number of physicians in other specialties are branching into the more lucrative field of cosmetic surgery. This causes problems when inexperienced physicians perform cosmetic procedures on patients and cause serious complications or even death.
The editorial cited the advent of private surgical centers and medical advertising as reasons for the problem. "Once doctors are licensed by states as physicians, there's little to stop them from doing operations outside their specialty and beyond their training," the editorial authors wrote. With greater ability to perform operations in private offices and surgery centers, physicians are "bypassing the gatekeepers" that normally prevent inexperienced physicians from performing unfamiliar procedures, the report said.
Mark J. Feldman, MD, executive director of the New York State Dental Association, responded to the editorial by saying oral and maxillofacial surgeons should be allowed to perform cosmetic procedures. He said oral surgeons already perform cosmetic surgery when it is performed in conjunction with certain underlying facial surgeries.
According to Dr. Feldman, the NYSDA supports a bill introduced in New York state legislature that would allow well-trained oral surgeons to perform these cosmetic procedures on a standalone basis. Even if the bill passes, the NYDSA expects fewer than 100 state oral surgeons to pursue the new privileges.
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The original USA Today editorial said an increasing number of physicians in other specialties are branching into the more lucrative field of cosmetic surgery. This causes problems when inexperienced physicians perform cosmetic procedures on patients and cause serious complications or even death.
The editorial cited the advent of private surgical centers and medical advertising as reasons for the problem. "Once doctors are licensed by states as physicians, there's little to stop them from doing operations outside their specialty and beyond their training," the editorial authors wrote. With greater ability to perform operations in private offices and surgery centers, physicians are "bypassing the gatekeepers" that normally prevent inexperienced physicians from performing unfamiliar procedures, the report said.
Mark J. Feldman, MD, executive director of the New York State Dental Association, responded to the editorial by saying oral and maxillofacial surgeons should be allowed to perform cosmetic procedures. He said oral surgeons already perform cosmetic surgery when it is performed in conjunction with certain underlying facial surgeries.
According to Dr. Feldman, the NYSDA supports a bill introduced in New York state legislature that would allow well-trained oral surgeons to perform these cosmetic procedures on a standalone basis. Even if the bill passes, the NYDSA expects fewer than 100 state oral surgeons to pursue the new privileges.
Related Articles on Surgery Center Specialties:
10 Steps to Improve Quality and Efficiency in Cataract Surgery
8 Key Technical Advances in Ophthalmology
50 Benchmarks on Surgery Center Case Volume