Beautician Threatened With Fine For Offering Whitening Treatment

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A beautician who was looking to expand her treatment range has been threatened with a fine from the General Dental Council.

Caroline Sumpter paid for a license and equipment to provide Megawhite Express Teeth Whitening, which totalled £1500 overall, but has since received a letter from the GDC, the body, which governs dentists and dental treatment in the UK. The letter stated that concerns had been raised that Sumpter was providing tooth whitening illegally in accordance with the law, which states that dental services should only be administered by trained and registered dental professionals.

Caroline Sumpter was surprised to receive the letter, which also threatened a fine and court proceedings, as she believed that the treatment was approved in the UK. Caroline was joined by a journalist from The Mirror newspaper at the Professional Beauty Show in London where the duo asked Megawhite director, Bryan Christie, to explain the situation.

Caroline requested a refund because she said she was mislead and believed that the license permitted her to offer the service legally. In response to her request, Mr Christie refused and said that the letter from the GDC was nothing but an “empty threat”, which many of their clients had received.

Mr Christie seems to think that the treatment is legal because it is a system, which patients use themselves at home, but a GDC spokesperson believes that this is not the case. The message from the GDC is clear and states that all dental treatments, as well as a dental advice, should only be given to the public by trained dental professionals.

When asked about contact with the GDC, Mr Christie said that they will not “liaise” with him because he is a not a dentist and is therefore not regulated by the body. Mr Christie went on to say that if everyone asked for refunds this would equate to more than £1.6 million and threatened Ms Sumpter with legal action for defamation.

 

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March 6th, 2014 at 08:47 PM
Correction Says :

Small correction for the above – the Megawhite service is not a treatment that you take away and use at home. It requires you to be present with a practitioner from Megawhite who performs the treatment using a “laser” which is actually just an LED light. This makes it dentistry, not the selling of a product to the public.

April 7th, 2014 at 08:47 PM
Caroline Sumpter Says :

Thank you for highlighting my article on your page.
In accordance with section 27 of the 1984 dental act what Megawhite are doing is wrong. They know that as soon as you have the business package and attempt to use it you will be breaking the law. Even though Brian and Liz Corbett-Makiyi tried very hard to persuade me that what I was doing was absolutely fine, they really did try to make me believe that the GDC wouldn’t do anything, which I would like to say is not the case. I did some research and discovered the real truth for myself and am very glad I did. The message could not be clearer: if you are not a dentist or dental professional working to the prescription of a dentist you cannot legally carry out teeth whitening. Even if the product is client administered and even if the product does not contain any peroxide. I feel a fool for being mislead by this company and it’s director, nut I am not alone. Brian Christie told me directly that he does not give refunds, so I have started legal proceedings against him and his company to attempt to recover my loss.