The notification follows a Telangana Medical Council statement, citing NMC clarification, which claimed OMFS professionals lack the formal surgical training required to perform hair transplants or aesthetic procedures
Published Jun 28, 2025 | 3:37 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 28, 2025 | 4:57 PM
After medical council’s bar, Telangana Dental Council backs oral surgeons’ right to perform aesthetic procedures and hair transplants
Synopsis: Days after the Telangana Medical Council declared Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (OMFS) unqualified for aesthetic procedures and hair transplants, the Telangana Dental Council countered with a public notice affirming OMFS eligibility under DCI standards. Issued on 28 June, the TDC asserted that registered OMFS professionals are authorized for such procedures and urged the public not to be misled by contrary claims.
Days after the Telangana Medical Council (TMC) issued a public notice declaring that Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (OMFS) are not qualified to perform aesthetic procedures and hair transplants due to lack of core surgical training in their curriculum, the Telangana Dental Council (TDC) has hit back with a strongly-worded notification asserting the exact opposite.
In a public notice dated 28 June, the Telangana Dental Council clarified that duly registered Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, trained under the Dental Council of India (DCI) standards, are fully qualified and authorized to carry out facial aesthetic procedures and hair transplants.
The council urged the general public “not to be misled or unduly influenced” by communications or statements from “any organizations, councils, or bodies other than the Dental Council of India or the respective State Dental Councils” on this matter.
The notification comes just two days after the Telangana Medical Council, citing a clarification from the National Medical Commission (NMC), stated that OMFS professionals lack “formal surgical knowledge and training” to perform hair transplants or aesthetic procedures. The NMC’s 13 June letter had further pointed out that hair transplants should only be done by practitioners with surgical training, such as MCh/DNB in Plastic Surgery or MD/DNB in Dermatology, where the subject is part of the core curriculum.
However, the Telangana Dental Council’s latest stance appears to reassert OMFS autonomy under dental education regulations. The council emphasized that the DCI had legally amended the Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) Course Regulations via a Gazette Notification on 26 August 2019, expanding the OMFS training scope to include a wide array of advanced surgical and aesthetic procedures.
These include:
* 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
* Hair transplant as a skill enhancement module
The TDC also cited three separate communications from the Dental Council of India between 2021 and 2022, affirming that OMFS professionals are qualified to perform both aesthetic and hair transplant procedures under the existing training framework.
This face-off between the medical and dental regulatory bodies has now created confusion for both the public and dental professionals, with two different interpretations of the OMFS scope of practice.
While the NMC’s Ethics and Medical Registration Board stressed curriculum-based eligibility and discouraged dental surgeons from undertaking such procedures, the DCI and the Telangana Dental Council maintain that OMFS are trained specialists equipped to handle complex facial surgeries, including aesthetic enhancements and transplants.
The Telangana Dental Council said its notification was being issued in the interest of public clarity, professional transparency, and to uphold the integrity of OMFS practice.
With two state-level statutory councils taking opposite positions — one aligned with the NMC and the other with the DCI — the matter may now require central-level regulatory clarity to avoid legal ambiguities and patient safety concerns.
Dr. Babu KV says, ” 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
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.”
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
