Brown v. Belifante,
No. A01A1339 (Ga. App. Nov. 21, 2001)

A dentist performed elective cosmetic surgery on his patient, including a rhytidectomy (face-lift), a genioplasty (chin augmentation), a four-lid blepharoplasty (eyelid revision), and a dermabrasion (facial laser resurfacing). The patient suffered complications and needed remedial corrective surgery. She sued the dentist, alleging, among other things, that he was negligent per se for exceeding the scope of the practice of dentistry. The lower court granted the dentist partial summary judgment and the patient appealed.

The Court of Appeals of Georgia reversed, finding that the dentist's actions fell outside the statutory scope of practice for dentists in the state of Georgia. The court concluded that, while the Georgia Board of Dentistry had authority to make rules surrounding the practice of dentistry, the Board did not have the authority to expand the practice of dentistry beyond statutory limits. The court then examined the statute which governed the scope of practice for dentists. It concluded that the procedures in which the dentist engaged were intentionally omitted from the statute and that there were only limited surgical procedures a dentist could perform. Elective cosmetic surgery was not among this list of limited procedures. The court, therefore, found that the dentist was in violation of the statute and negligent per se.