Why it’s high time the courts started cracking down on illegal teeth whitening

Like all dentists, we’ve seen a sharp rise in the number of patients asking for teeth whitening and clear braces in recent years.

Driven in part by what some dentists are calling ‘the TOWIE effect’ (our desire to emulate the perfect smiles we see on TV and in films), it’s a busy time for dentists. However, it has also been a worryingly busy time for cowboys offering illegal tooth whitening, sometimes from beauty salons.

If carried out professionally, tooth whitening is a gentle, pain free process which is very popular with our patients. We offer Enlighten teeth whitening, a technological leader in professional teeth whitening. Enlighten is a cutting-edge product from the US which we can use to make a visible difference to your smile without using any substances that are harsh enough to cause damage to the teeth or cause unnecessary pain.

We also offer Zoom Whitening, which can make your smile up to eight shades lighter in just 45 minutes. Zoom is considered to be one of the safest cosmetic dental procedures available and is clinically proven.

 

Zoom teeth whitening safe,effective and legal
Zoom teeth whitening safe,effective and legal

We also offer home whitening kits, which are perfect for those who can’t squeeze the time for dental appointments into their hectic schedules.

We’ll always take the time to discuss the risks of any treatment with our patients, no matter how minimal. For example, some patients may experience slight sensitivity during the whitening treatment. We’ll also discuss each tooth whitening option to make sure we find the perfect system for you.

Our professional and highly trained team in the Isle of Man have dealt with hundreds of patients who’ve taken the time to write, call, or take to social media to tell us how delighted they are with the results of teeth whitening and we’ve seen the confidence boost that this simple treatment can deliver when administered by professional trained dentists.

However, as the demand for teeth whitening has grown, we’ve been very concerned to see completely untrained and unlicensed individuals offering tooth whitening services, sometimes as part of a mobile beauty business, sometimes within beauty salons.

Yes, these cowboys will offer to whiten your teeth for less money than a reputable dentist will charge, but as they’re doing this illegally and with no dental training or knowledge of the professional products available, you’ll have no way of checking what’s really being applied to your teeth or the likely risks (which can range from extreme pain in the short term to lasting damage to your teeth in the long term).

 

teeth whitening @tarcey bell
teeth whitening @tarcey bell

Here at Tracey Bell, we’ve been working hard to highlight the dangers of illegal teeth whitening for years and are delighted to see that cases like the one below are being brought to court!

12 February 2015
Lancashire based woman guilty of offering illegal tooth whitening
The UK regulator of dental practice, the General Dental Council (GDC), has successfully prosecuted a woman for unlawfully holding herself out as being prepared to practise dentistry, namely tooth whitening.

By law, only dentists, dental hygienists, dental therapists and clinical dental technicians (working to the prescription of a dentist) can carry out tooth whitening.

On 12 February 2015 Jemma Knox pleaded guilty at Chorley Magistrates’ Court to unlawfully holding herself out as being prepared to practise dentistry, contrary to Section 38 (1) and (2) of the Dentists Act 1984.

The offence took place at Sparkle Whites, Shaw Hill Golf & Country Club, Whittle le Woods, Chorley, Lancashire, PR6 7PP on 13 November 2014.

Ms Knox, who has never been registered with the GDC, was given an 18 month conditional discharge. She was ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and full costs to the GDC of £2271.40.

Patients can check that their tooth whitening treatment is being carried out by a registered dental professional by searching the online GDC register: www.gdc-uk.org.

The Tracey Bell team also welcomes this statement from the General Dental Council regarding illegal teeth whitening.

During the last three years, The General Dental Council (GDC) has received complaints from the public and dental professionals about tooth whitening which focus on the risk to patient safety from poor quality tooth whitening being carried out by untrained or poorly trained staff.

The GDC believes that tooth whitening should always be carried out by a trained, registered and qualified dental professional, working under the prescription of a dentist.

An independent mystery shopping exercise, carried out in 2010, found substantial evidence of tooth whitening being carried out in beauty salons and health clinics by staff without any dental training or qualifications.

Independent Research, commissioned by the GDC, provides evidence, for the first time in the United Kingdom, about public attitudes to tooth whitening and patient safety. The research found very strong support for the GDC’s policies of regulating tooth whitening to protect patient safety and prosecuting illegal practice.

Key findings from a representative opinion survey of UK residents, carried out for the GDC in December 2010 are:
• 86% of those surveyed agreed that tooth whitening should only be carried out by registered, trained and qualified dental professionals. 4% disagreed.
• More than eight out of ten thought that it should be illegal for anyone to carry out tooth whitening who isn’t a registered, trained and qualified dental professional. 5% disagreed.
• 75% of the general public thought that the GDC should prosecute anyone practising tooth whitening illegally. 7% disagreed.

We expect to see many more successful prosecutions of those offering illegal teeth whitening over the coming months and will be doing all that we can to raise awareness of the dangers of trusting your teeth whitening to anyone other than a qualified dental professional.

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