A smile was once measured by the glint of teeth. Now it can be overshadowed by the puff or deflation of Botoxed lips.
Many smiles are built by dentists. Many failures of collagen-injected enhancements are due to a lack of rigour and standardization amongst dentists.
Yet an attempt aided by the UK government to register Botox and collagen injection clinics has been called unworkable by a leading organization of plastic surgeons.
The Treatments You Can Trust website, listing the register of commercial injection clinics, is run by the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services (IHAS) and has been online since April this year. It opened for the public to choose clinics on Monday Sept. 13.
IHAS have set up the site with backing of £200,000 from the Department of Health for quality assurance. “The primary function of IHAS is in the area of operational policy and regulation as it affects the independent sector,” the IHAS website says.
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) says the register is more of a marketing ploy than a regulatory, patient-supporting aid.
BAAPS President Nigel Mercer said in a statement, “It is evident from the information circulated by the IHAS to the profession that the scheme is being used as a marketing tool, its regulation appears rudimentary and their ‘Quality Mark’ is not recognised by the British Standards Institute or any other regulatory body.”
BAAPS wants the regulation process to wait for CEN, one of the recognised EU Standards Agencies, to give its findings. “They will have ’teeth' because they cannot be ignored by National Governments.”
BAAPS also says “as IHAS is, in part, funded by the clinics who have a major vested interest in this market, it is a clear conflict of interest and therefore inappropriate for them to have a role in its regulation.“
156 sites are on the register and the 113 are being processed. “The next wave of ambition is to extend the successful registration of the larger groups and dentists to the independent doctors and registered nurses,” said Sally Taber, the Standards and Training principles manager for Treatments You Can Trust.
Dr. Andrew Vallance-Owen, Chairman of IHAS said on the organisation’s website that the public have a chance “to make a conscious decision to look out for [sic] the IHAS Quality Assurance Mark when choosing a provider, to ensure a safe treatment and good results.”
In the March 2006 issue of Glamour magazine, Teri Hatcher of the “Desperate Housewives” TV series said, “In the past, I’ve had Botox and collagen, but I haven’t had anything done in over a year.”
After reporting this quote more than a year later, gossip.about.com stated that Botox treatments last about three months, after which wrinkles inevitable come back.
The website continued, “That leaves skeptics wondering how Teri’s skin remains perfect despite having avoided any help in over a year.
“If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Many smiles are built by dentists. Many failures of collagen-injected enhancements are due to a lack of rigour and standardization amongst dentists.
Yet an attempt aided by the UK government to register Botox and collagen injection clinics has been called unworkable by a leading organization of plastic surgeons.
The Treatments You Can Trust website, listing the register of commercial injection clinics, is run by the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services (IHAS) and has been online since April this year. It opened for the public to choose clinics on Monday Sept. 13.
IHAS have set up the site with backing of £200,000 from the Department of Health for quality assurance. “The primary function of IHAS is in the area of operational policy and regulation as it affects the independent sector,” the IHAS website says.
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) says the register is more of a marketing ploy than a regulatory, patient-supporting aid.
BAAPS President Nigel Mercer said in a statement, “It is evident from the information circulated by the IHAS to the profession that the scheme is being used as a marketing tool, its regulation appears rudimentary and their ‘Quality Mark’ is not recognised by the British Standards Institute or any other regulatory body.”
BAAPS wants the regulation process to wait for CEN, one of the recognised EU Standards Agencies, to give its findings. “They will have ’teeth' because they cannot be ignored by National Governments.”
BAAPS also says “as IHAS is, in part, funded by the clinics who have a major vested interest in this market, it is a clear conflict of interest and therefore inappropriate for them to have a role in its regulation.“
156 sites are on the register and the 113 are being processed. “The next wave of ambition is to extend the successful registration of the larger groups and dentists to the independent doctors and registered nurses,” said Sally Taber, the Standards and Training principles manager for Treatments You Can Trust.
Dr. Andrew Vallance-Owen, Chairman of IHAS said on the organisation’s website that the public have a chance “to make a conscious decision to look out for [sic] the IHAS Quality Assurance Mark when choosing a provider, to ensure a safe treatment and good results.”
In the March 2006 issue of Glamour magazine, Teri Hatcher of the “Desperate Housewives” TV series said, “In the past, I’ve had Botox and collagen, but I haven’t had anything done in over a year.”
After reporting this quote more than a year later, gossip.about.com stated that Botox treatments last about three months, after which wrinkles inevitable come back.
The website continued, “That leaves skeptics wondering how Teri’s skin remains perfect despite having avoided any help in over a year.
“If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
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