Advice on Teeth Whitening Discussion Thread

moneylover

sadly, government or no government, I will never have 'dazzling' teeth, they are horribly yellow and I wouldnt mind so much if it wasnt for the fact that I dont drink coffee and have never smoked

Any comments on Enlighten anyone as have heard thats the in surgery lightener that has least sensitivity. However, I think it will be sensible to go with trays.

jugglebug

moneylover wrote: »

sadly, government or no government, I will never have 'dazzling' teeth, they are horribly yellow and I wouldnt mind so much if it wasnt for the fact that I dont drink coffee and have never smoked

Any comments on Enlighten anyone as have heard thats the in surgery lightener that has least sensitivity. However, I think it will be sensible to go with trays.

Enlighten is a combination treatment that has a few weeks tray whitening followed by an in surgery session.
It is what I used on my own teeth when I whitened them (And my wife's)
I don't use it now so the protocol may have changed but it was a very good system last time I looked

numbercruncher22

I can fully understand the GDC approach to teeth whitening. However, I can also understand why there are so many non-dentists doing it. I went to a dentist years ago and was given a tray etc, but it was useless and unpleasant.

A couple of years before that a dentist fitted a bridge for me - without informing me that he would grind down two very healthy teeth in order to fit the bridge. Can I sue him???!!! He told me afterwards and I'm just waiting now for the bridge to fall off as I believe the stumps underneath have decayed. I had to resort to using credit cards ten years ago for an implant - full cost including all the treatment £4.5k.

I can't afford a dentist now. I'm unemployed (redundant civil servant because nobody needs us anymore!) but am scared to use the NHS service because it was an NHS dentist that fitted the bridge.

Anyway, back to teeth whitening. My daughter wants to do it to supplement her income from other beauty therapy. I've been looking for 'proper' courses for her but there aren't any. She agrees that one day's training is ludicrous and none of the training is regulated.

So, you get a non-dental person who wants proper training but can't get it. Why doesn't the GDC offer suitable courses - even if they take a year to complete??? Or is that because the dentists want to keep this good little earner to themselves. Dentists have become very greedy hence people like myself cannot afford regular visits and will only go to a dentist when a tooth falls out!

People see teeth whitening as a treat (< £100) but don't think about the risks. But saying that, not all therapists are cowboys or don't take care - within their knowledge base that is.

welshdent

right I dont mean to be rude but you need to cut the generalisations. "Dentists have become very greedy" - Oh really?!?! and what qualifies you to say that about me simply because of my chosen profession!?
There are plenty of "proper" courses. They are called dentistry, dental therapy, dental hygiene, dental nursing etc. These qualifications allow you to be registered with the GDC and thus legally allowed to carry out tooth whitening.

The GDC does not look after dentists. It looks after the public. If you think otherwise I suggest you go to the GDC when cases are being heard and THEN see if they are looking out for the dentists interests. This "good little earner" contributes a miniscule amount of my income. If someone said to me tomorrow I could never do it again it would make almost zero impact on how much I earn over a year, I have talked more people out of it that in because I do not feel it is in their interests to have it done.

The GDC is solely there to protect the public by regulating the profession. Rightly it believes tooth whitening aka DENTISTRY is not to be done by those unqualified. It takes this stance because it is trying to prevent the general public from people that do not know what damage they could be doing or how to fix that damage. You say "not all therapists are cowboys or don't take care - within their knowledge base that is"
No one here has called anyone a cowboy. The fact is that I studied for 5 years for my basic dental degree and then had an additional 12 month training contract. Hygiene is 2 and a half years. Therapy about 3 years. Dental nursing is 2 years full time. How can a "therapist" in your interpretation POSSIBLY gain enough knowledge for appropriate diagnosis, appropriate treatment and appropriate management of complications??

Now I am sorry you had a bad experience with a previous dentist. I can not comment on the quality of the treatment. It sounds like they should have gained appropriate consent from you. The decay is not their fault however that is yours. Most of us are committed caring individuals that invest large amounts of money in ourselves to make us BETTER dentists and BETTER at giving YOU the treatments you expect and deserve. Much can be said about the NHS system but just because someone provides dentistry on the NHS does not make them rubbish. FWIW I wouldnt leave the bridge until the "stumps" (your teeth) decay away because that is quite likely to make it impossible to replace a bridge.

j.e.j.

that's an extremely defensive post, there, welshdent! don't think numbercruncher was saying you personally, but they did make some valid points.

welshdent

It was defensive because of the generalisations the poster made and accusations.

They made points and I countered. If you want a course that legally allows you to whiten teeth then do dentistry, hygiene, therapy etc. We are all just going around and around in circles on this issue. I think I explained in my post the reasons why the GDC take the view they do.

brook2jack

numbercruncher22 wrote: »

Anyway, back to teeth whitening. My daughter wants to do it to supplement her income from other beauty therapy. I've been looking for 'proper' courses for her but there aren't any. She agrees that one day's training is ludicrous and none of the training is regulated.

So, you get a non-dental person who wants proper training but can't get it. Why doesn't the GDC offer suitable courses - even if they take a year to complete??? Or is that because the dentists want to keep this good little earner to themselves. Dentists have become very greedy hence people like myself cannot afford regular visits and will only go to a dentist when a tooth falls out!

People see teeth whitening as a treat (< £100) but don't think about the risks. But saying that, not all therapists are cowboys or don't take care - within their knowledge base that is.

the GDC are protecting the public by prosecuting non dentists offering tooth whitening http://www.gdc-uk.org/Newsandpublications/Pressreleases/Pages/GDC-success-in-fresh-prosecution-over-tooth-whitening.aspx (details of most recent prosecution a few days ago)

Even beauty industry associations such as BABTAC advises its members that tooth whitening should only be done by dentists and refuse to offer insurance to cover beauticians etc for this .

There have been hundreds of cases brought against beauticians acording to habia and babtac (both beauty industry organisations) from people with permanent damage to teeth and health. One lady had her asthma made permanently worse, many have had to have extensive treatment to repair damage.

It is easy to whiten teeth but it takes 6 years of training to spot the medical and dental reasons why it is only suitable for less than 50% of people who want it and to diagnose that someone is medically and dentally fit for it.

So in short the reasons there are no accredited courses for non dentists , or professional complementary to dentistry is that

a it is illegal for non dentally qualified to do it http://www.gdc-uk.org/Membersofpublic/Illegalpractice/Pages/Tooth-whitening.aspx

b it is dangerous for them to do so as they have not the long experience of dental and medical diagnosis and any insurance they may get is often based off shore and will be invalid because of illegality

There have been multiple prosecutions this year the most recent a few days ago. Persuade her to up her income in a legal way that wont potentially permanently damage an innocent person.

moneylover

If you have chair whitening, and your mouth is kept open with gum shields etc, can you swallow? I always feel such a fool at the hygienist, she keeps having to stop as I want to swallow - I guess its nerves and I am sure that the whitening would be worse...

usaapple

I want to get a groupon teeth whitening but am scared of the quality of service.
Places like smile tech of smiles away or glamour clinic i need some help please. Any experinces.

brook2jack

It is illegal for anyone other than a dentist or a dental therapist /hygienist working to a dentists prescription to provide tooth whitening.

Before booking or paying money check you are being seen by a dentist not a beautician providing this potentially damaging and health threatening treatment illegally.

Do not be bamboozled by talk of "qualified whitening technicians" there is no such thing.

Finally read this link for questions to ask http://www.gdc-uk.org/Membersofpublic/Illegalpractice/Pages/Tooth-whitening.aspx