Soon, hair transplants at dental clinics in Maharashtra

NAGPUR: Oral and maxillofacial surgeons, a super speciality in dentistry, will now be allowed to perform aesthetic surgeries and hair transplant procedures.
The Dental Council of India (DCI), a statutory body of dentists, issued guidelines for this practice recently.
The Maharashtra Dental Council (MDC) received these guidelines and forwarded them to dentists across the state on February 16.
The move would bring about a major change in the hair transplant industry. Along with dental treatment, ‘hair transplant’ facility will soon be available in government or private dental clinics. This will benefit doctors as well as patients, claimed DCI officials.
“This is a golden opportunity for oral and maxillofacial surgeons. DCI has issued guidelines and its necessary for interested doctors to undergo training and develop facilities. This decision will increase the number of hair transplant surgeons in the country,” said Dr Vikas Dhupar, a member of the DCI executive committee.
Maharashtra State Dental Council members said it is likely to take some time to introduce this new department in government dental hospitals. “Until now, only plastic surgeons and trained dermatologists were authorized to perform hair transplants. But maxillofacial surgeons deal with the entire face, including teeth and jaw. So, it would be ideal to allow them to do hair transplants,” said a senior member.
Doctors said that the number of trained hair transplant surgeons is the need of the hour.
“These days, baldness has become a major problem of the young generation due to lifestyle factors like stress, food choices and environmental issues like pollution. As transplant surgeons are limited, bogus hair transplant rackets are flourishing across the country. This decision will surely put a check on it,” said dermatologist Dr Sejal Niwal.
The guidelines issued by the DCI have details about clinical requirements and training needed for oral surgeons to perform hair transplants. Doctors from Government Dental College (GDC) Nagpur said that they are yet to get the guidelines about setting up a separate department or an additional set-up for the hair transplant module. But dental colleges, including GDC, are preparing for this new avenue opened for the DCI.