Resumo

PEDRON, Irineu Gregnanin. Ethical and legal considerations on the application of botulinum toxin by the dentist. Odontol. Clín.-Cient. (Online) [online]. 2015, vol.14, n.4, pp. 789-796. ISSN 1677-3888.

Recently, the botulinum toxin has raising important role in dental therapy, after being widely used in medicine, with both cosmetic and therapeutic purposes. Botulinum toxin is indicated in several pathologies and stomatological conditions, among them: temporomandibular disorders, parafunctional habits (bruxism and clenching), masseteric hypertrophy, facial paralysis, drooling, gummy smile and, preventively, in reducing excessive masticatory load after implantodontic rehabilitation. Given the high availability of courses of botulinum toxin in dentistry in the domestic market - some of which mistakenly focused on facial aesthetics - the purpose of this work is to guide the dentist, elucidating possible questions regarding to the use of botulinum toxin in the field of Stomatology . This paper also presents recommendations and guidelines for the application of botulinum toxin in our professional activity, in order to avoid potential ethical and legal litigations against the dentist.

Palavras-chave : botulinum toxin; dentistry; dental ethics..