Dental regulator warns on tooth whitening safety

15^th June 2011 - The UK's dental regulator is warning the public against clinics or individuals offering tooth whitening illegally.

The General Dental Council (GDC) says it considers tooth whitening to be a dental procedure which can only be carried out by those registered with the GDC. The Council is warning the public that tooth whitening in the hands of untrained and unregistered individuals carries significant risks.

Earlier this year the GDC successfully prosecuted the head of a national chain of clinics which had offered the procedure despite not being registered as a dentist or dental care professional. It says more prosecutions are likely.

Serious harm

"Tooth whitening is not a trivial matter," says Evlynne Gilvarry, Chief Executive and Registrar at the GDC. "While it may have cosmetic effect, it is a serious dental treatment," she tells us.

Gilvarry says that in untrained hands tooth whitening can cause serious harm to patients. "Typically, the kind of ill effects that dentists see when patients come to them when they've had tooth whitening done elsewhere are blistering of the gums and the mouth and discolouration of the teeth."

Gilvarry says that what remains unclear is whether the procedure has any long-lasting ill effects when it is carried out by an untrained individual.

Whitening procedures

Tooth whitening can be conducted in a number of ways in the UK. The procedure can be carried out in a dental surgery or at home under the supervision of a dentist. Over-the-counter products for use at home can also be purchased.

Both home use products and dentist-supervised at-home products usually contain a lower strength-bleaching agent from 10% carbamide peroxide, which is equivalent to about 3% hydrogen peroxide and up to 22% carbamide peroxide. In-surgery, professionally applied tooth whitening products contain hydrogen peroxide in concentrations ranging from 15% to 43%.

Survey

The GDC claims it has popular backing for its advice that tooth whitening should be carried out by professionals. In a poll commissioned by the Council last year, 86% of 1,021 adults surveyed said they thought that tooth whitening should only be carried out by registered, trained and qualified dental professionals. 4% of those asked disagreed.

75% of the people who took part in the survey also said they thought the GDC should prosecute anyone carrying out tooth whitening illegally.

Fined

In March this year the GDC successfully prosecuted a non-registrant for performing tooth whitening - the first case of its kind brought by the dental regulator. 48 year old Paul William Hill of Warrington, Director of PW Healthcare Consulting Limited, pleaded guilty to four offences including practising dentistry while not registered as a dentist or dental care professional.

City of Westminster magistrates ordered Hill to pay a total of £6,265 in fines and costs and PW Healthcare Consulting, which traded nationally as Style Smile Clinics, was ordered to pay a total of £6,765.

The GDC said it launched the case after receiving hundreds of complaints from the public about unregistered individuals offering tooth whitening treatment.

"We are looking at some other potential prosecutions, because it's still going on," Gilvarry says.

The GDC has published a new leaflet offering advice to people considering having tooth whitening treatment.