The ongoing dispute has triggered uncertainty for OMFS dental professionals, disrupted student rotation plans in medical colleges, unsettled patients seeking aesthetic procedures, and complicated protocol planning for healthcare institutions
Published Jul 20, 2025 | 4:00 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 20, 2025 | 4:00 PM
Synopsis: A turf war between Telangana’s medical and dental regulators has intensified, with the Telangana Medical Council urging a halt to posting MDS-OMFS students in plastic surgery departments. In a letter to state health authorities, the Council warned against dental surgeons performing aesthetic procedures or hair transplants, citing inadequate training. A public notice on June 26 reiterated this warning
The ongoing jurisdictional battle between Telangana’s medical and dental regulatory bodies has escalated, with the Telangana Medical Council (TMC) asking authorities to suspend the posting of MDS-OMFS (Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery) students in plastic surgery departments across state medical colleges.
In a letter to the Director of Medical Education and the Vice Chancellor/Registrar of Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences, TMC cited concerns over dental surgeons performing aesthetic procedures and hair transplantation surgeries without adequate training.
The Telangana Medical Council issued a public notice on 26 June stating that dental surgeons, including Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, lack the qualifications to perform aesthetic procedures or hair transplantation surgeries.
“Dentists (BDS)/Dental Surgeons, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (MDS) do not have the aforesaid specialties as core topics in their curriculum and as such, they lack formal surgical knowledge and training to perform these procedures,” the TMC notice read.
Within two days, the Telangana Dental Council (TDC) issued a clarifying notice asserting that properly registered Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons are “fully qualified and authorized” to perform facial aesthetic procedures and hair transplants under Dental Council of India (DCI) standards.
The TDC urged the public “not to be misled or unduly influenced” by communications from organizations other than the DCI or respective State Dental Councils.
The dispute intensified when TMC sought clarification from the National Medical Commission (NMC), which responded that the DCI’s public notice was issued without consulting the NMC. The NMC clarified that MDS-OMFS professionals are not eligible to practice aesthetic and hair transplantation procedures.
So now, TMC stated in its current letter to DME and KNRUHS that “The Telangana Medical Council came to know that MDS (OMFS) students are posted in various clinical departments of modern medicine especially Plastic Surgery which deals with Aesthetic & Hair Transplantation procedures in various medical colleges of Telangana, which is against the letter issued by the National Medical Commission.”
It added that In this connection, “we request your kind authority to withhold the posting of MDS-OMFS students in Department of Plastic Surgery which specifically deals with Aesthetic & Hair Transplantation Procedures and further requested to seek clarification from the National Medical Commission about other clinical departments postings.”
The TMC, backed by the NMC, argues that hair transplants should only be performed by practitioners with specific surgical training such as MCh/DNB in Plastic Surgery or MD/DNB in Dermatology, where the subject is part of core curriculum.
The TDC maintains that the DCI legally expanded OMFS training scope through a Gazette Notification on August 26, 2019, which includes facial aesthetic surgeries such as facelifts, blepharoplasty, and otoplasty, bone graft harvesting from the hip, skull, and lower leg, skull base surgeries and jaw joint surgeries, craniofacial trauma and cancer surgeries, and hair transplant as a skill enhancement module.
The TDC cited three separate DCI communications from 2021-2022 affirming OMFS professionals’ qualifications for aesthetic and hair transplant procedures.
The conflicting positions have created uncertainty for dental professionals practicing OMFS, medical colleges planning student rotations, patients seeking aesthetic procedures, and healthcare institutions developing protocols.
Two state-level statutory councils have taken opposite positions, with TMC aligned with NMC guidelines and TDC supporting DCI regulations.
Public health activist Dr. Babu KV commented on the regulatory conflict: “If the EMRB is of the opinion that the decisions taken by the DCI based on DCI regulations 2019 is highhandedness, the NMC should write to the Ministry of Health to instruct the DCI to remove the unacceptable part of DCI regulations 2019 regarding cosmetic surgery. Sending a letter to TGMC and publishing it in the media is just playing for the gallery.”
Dr. Babu emphasized that both councils have equal statutory authority: “The DCI is established by the act of the parliament just like NMC established under NMC Act 2019. One is not superior to the other.”
While the turf war between two medical bodies are out in public, the dispute requires central-level regulatory intervention to resolve legal ambiguities, address patient safety concerns, establish clear scope of practice guidelines, and prevent further disruption to medical education.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
