Q. hi, I wish to have laser whitening. My local tanning salon offers in house laser whitening for a third of the price that dentists offer. How safe and or legal is it for me to have laser there? thank you, Y.
A.Dear Y,
It is illegal for anyone not qualified as a Dentist to carry out dentistry. This includes tooth whitening. However, if your local tanning center is employing a dentist to carry out this treatment this would be fine. Your teeth can be permanently damaged if incorrect products and techniques are used to whiten your teeth. Please make sure that only a qualified dentist carries out this procedure for you.
Regards,
Dr Julian Caplan BDS
Director on the board of The British Academy of Cosmetic
© 2008 cosmeticdentistryguide.co.uk |
What so is it illegal for me to whiten my own teeth. Im not qualified as a dentist.
In reply to your comments on teeth whitening, I would like to remind you that teeth whitening is not a dental procedure and was indeed passed as a cosmetic procedure in 2001 through the House of Lords.
I would just like to note for the record that it is not illegal for a trained whitening technician to carry out teeth whitening as stated by Julian Caplin. Anybody who uses hydrogen peroxide above 0.1% in this country is acting illegally.
Dentists have always thought they were above the law and have always stated that this is a dental procedure, which in fact it is not, and no dentist in the UK would whiten anybody’s teeth without using the safe and reliable method of hydrogen or carbamide peroxide.
It is unfortunate that the EU has not changed this dated law by now, but I would just like to emphasize that this is by no means a dental procedure and as stated by The House of Lords in 2001 was in fect deemed to be cosmetic.
I am tired of hearing dentists stating that only they can carry ou this treatment. I agree with what they say in the sense that there are a lot of back street whitening companies out there that should be eradicated, however for the few professional whitening companies that are out there, I would just like to remind dentists, that as it stands in the UK at the moment, what they are doing is very much illegal as well!
Hi,i am wanting to enrol on a teeth whitening course and purchase SmileQuest machine.Most of the literature i have read says it is illegal for non dentist professionals to carry out this procedure…I am soo confused…I don’t want to go ahead and part with money if i am not covered to be able to carry out this procedure…please help!!
Hi Carron
The actual process of teeh whitening is not illegal in itself for a non dental professional to do, however using hydrogen peroxide over 0.01% in the EU is illegal. The majority of dentists in the EU use up to 35% hydrogen peroxide which is of course illegal and the fact that a dentist is doing it means nothing as they are breaking the law also! Of late in this country a blind eye has been turned to this, however the law will change in the future to favour dentists, but do not be fooled by a dentist telling you it is illegal for you to do as it is as much an illegality for them as it is for any member of the public. In short, Carron, using HP over 0.01% is illegal, but is still the safest and only method proved to whiten teeth. Incidently Smilequest went in to liquidation as a company at the turn of last year and have now set up selling machines. I purchased my equipment from a company called Teethwhite, many years ago and have found them to offer reliable machines and also great back up. If you like I could pass you their contact details as another option to Smilequest. Regards, David.