THE IRISH Dental Association (IDA) has welcomed a landmark case in the UK where a beauty salon was prosecuted for providing tooth-whitening treatments without the supervision of a dentist.
In the first case of its kind, the UK’s dental regulator, the General Dental Council (GDC), successfully prosecuted a non-dentist for performing tooth whitening.
Paul William Hill, the director of a company which runs a chain of 60 clinics in the UK called Style Smiles Clinics, pleaded guilty to four offences including practising dentistry while not registered as a dentist.
Mr Hill was fined £6,765 (€7,644) and ordered to pay a further £5,500 (€6,271) in costs for the GDC.
Naas-based dentist Johnny Fearon, the IDA’s expert on tooth whitening, said the procedure was classified by EU directives as a dental procedure and therefore it was illegal that it be carried by anybody except a dentist.
“It is illegal for anybody who is non-dentally qualified to put their hand into another person’s mouth or to prescribe a therapeutic agent such as hydrogen peroxide for that purpose,” he said.
However, he said there was “absolutely no regulation whatsoever” and beauty clinics were acting with impunity or in ignorance of the law.
The IDA maintains that tooth whitening is a procedure which has potential health risks that require the attendance of a trained dentist.
Hydrogen peroxide, the chemical used in tooth whitening, was found to have crossed the placenta in animals.
The highest recommended concentration was 10 per cent, but he said the IDA had taken samples from beauty clinics that showed concentrations as high as 36 per cent. The EU wants a new directive, making it illegal to have it over 6 per cent.
Mr Fearon said the process of tooth whitening caused the release of oxygen radicals which have been found to be carcinogenic.
