Last Word: Dr Brian Franks

By: Katharine Griffiths
Created on 17th May 2011

We interview Dr Brian Franks, Bupa’s clinical director of both aesthetics and dentistry, about his involvement in Treatments You Can Trust, the selfregulatory scheme for injectable treatments

When did you get involved with the scheme?

I had heard about the IHAS scheme when it was first mooted and was surprised that there were no dental representatives on board. I approached the IHAS and was voted onto the working group.

However, I then realised that I hadn’t actually been ‘chosen’ by the dental profession to represent them. I contacted various organisations, such as Dental Protection, the Royal College of Surgeons in England and the British Association of Cosmetic Dentists, to ensure that theyhad no objections to me representing dentists.

So was it thought that dentists shouldn’t be offering these treatments?

I think it just hadn’t occurred to IHAS to include dentists. Initially, I did get a bit of a verbal bashing from some members on the committee who didn’t feel dentists should be there. However, I pointed out that dentists are ideally suited to doing aesthetic treatments. In fact I made the case that dentists are probably the most apt people to carry out these injections. Also cosmetic dentists offering facial aesthetics is a fast growing trend and you can’t just ignore it.

What has been the attitude of dentists towards the scheme?

The IHAS scheme has been fully embraced by the dental profession – Dental Protection is now insuring dentists that carry the IHAS quality assurance mark on their normal subscription – and I believe that, in terms of individuals joining the scheme, the most have come from the dental profession.

Is this a question of cosmetic dentists wanting the credibility in this field that the quality assurance mark confers?

Yes, absolutely, as I personally think that facial aesthetics and dentistry go hand-inhand. Dentists are well suited to providing injectables – our training has been all focused on the face, head and neck and we have literally given thousands of injections.

I recently read a quote from a consultant surgeon who said that evaluating dentition should be an integral part of any facial aesthetic treatment – he even went further and said if you don’t take into account the dental aspect you could actually be negligent.

This makes complete sense; having a complete and well balanced dentition might remove the need for facial aesthetic treatments or at the very least reduce the amount of intervention that is necessary.

What’s next for IHAS?

The next thing we’re looking at is training which is a subject very close to my heart as I run training courses for injectables and I’m also an approved trainer for Dermaroller and Voluma. I've also just been invited to join the Governance Group whose primary focus will be consumer protection.

So, why should the public trust Treatments You Can Trust?

The scheme is aimed at protecting the public and giving them a guide to clinicians who work in a way that IHAS deems good practice.

This scheme is voluntary and there has been some criticism of this, but my view is that a scheme that is self-regulatory is better than none at all. It is a very rigorous procedure to get the mark of approval so, if a client visits a practitioner who has the mark, they know they are guaranteed a degree of safety.

I have already started to see patients that have found me on the website and this will just increase as the public become more aware of the scheme.

CS&AG