Advice on Teeth Whitening Discussion Thread

Teethwhiteninguk

brook2jack wrote: »

And a bit more detail on the Lona Jamous case and the High Court ruling quote

"In the recent case of General Dental Council v Jamous, the High Court has allowed an appeal and held that tooth-whitening is a treatment “usually” performed by dentists and therefore constituted the practice of dentistry under the Dentists Act 1984. Consequently, a person not qualified as a dentist should be prohibited from providing such treatment.

In the earlier ruling, a Magistrates’ Court found that tooth-whitening did not constitute the practice of dentistry. The respondent, Lorna Jamous, had argued that since tooth-whitening products were available on the market, anybody could treat themselves and therefore the practice was comparable to parents cleaning their children’s teeth.

The General Dental Council appealed the ruling.

The High Court held that:

1. Tooth-whitening constituted the practice of dentistry and therefore a non-dentist was prohibited from providing it by section 38 and section 41 of the Dentists Act 1984; and

2. The general public had to be protected from receiving treatment from those not qualified to give it. It was not relevant whether it could also be performed in a domestic context. When a parent brushed a child’s teeth, he or she was not providing treatment to the child and was not practicing a profession.

As a consequence of this ruling, only dentists, dental hygienists and dental therapists (working to the prescription of a dentist) are allowed to carry out tooth whitening."

Have you read and listened to the transcript?

Teethwhiteninguk

welshdent wrote: »

That's what I thought too!

What thought?

Teethwhiteninguk

brook2jack wrote: »

Other than the fact that illegal whiteners want to continue to make money from the public please tell me how seeing a beautician who has had three hours training in the following taken from an illegal tooth whiteners website is better qualified or safer than a dentist to prescribe tooth whitening and I quote

The course will cover:
1. Initial Consultation
2. Patient assessment
3. Identifying Gum Disease
4. Identifying staining profiles
5. Identifying fillings, veneers, crowns/cavities
6. Navigating consent forms
7. Identifying unsuitable patients
8. Technical profile of dental bleaching
9. Overview of dental materials
10. Safety profiles
11. Teeth whitening demonstration
12. Practical hands on experience
13. Teeth whitening protocols 14. Business development
15. Growing your business
16. Full DBT certification

" end of quote. There is no nationally recognised qualification in dental whitening, no exam anyone can pay for the equipment and spiel and be putting chemical in a member of the public's body tomorrow.

All you have to do is go to stamp out illegal tooth whitening Facebook site to see photographs of people who are deemed successes by illegal whiteners despite the obvious burns on their gums , obvious UN treated dental disease which will have been exacerbated by their whitening. If these are deemed successes what are the failures like that don't get their photographs published on websites?

I am sorry that despite you being a dental technician you have had bad experiences at a dentist. Fortunately the UK public are overwhelmingly satisfied with their dentist (88%) an even greater proportion than doctors.
This chimes with the over 80% who believe only dentists should carry out tooth whitening.

Finally you may want to read a selection of stories from people damaged on this forum , there are several on this thread including Clare who had whitening using a "legal" bicarbonate of soda system with a beautician and I quote

"Hi, I'm looking for some advice (wish I'd seen this thread beforehand!)....

On Friday 15th Feb, 2013 me and my hubby went to a 'salon' for laser tooth whitening following recommendation from numerous people.
I'm petrified of the dentist's so specifically asked the lady doing the procedure if it would hurt and if it was damaging to teeth, to which she replied 'no and no'

We had 3 x 15 min blasts under the laser, the 2nd being extremely painful but we managed to persevere with the pain. The after pains that followed were horrific! Totally excruciating ! These lasted a good 6 hours, and painkillers didn't have any effect. We finally managed to fall asleep in the early hours after hours of rolling around in sheer torturous pain.
The following day I was unable to brush my teeth without pain around the gums, where they'd whitened during treatment. A week on and I have just switched back from using a baby toothbrush for a week!
Both of us feel they are getting better each day but feel they are more sensitive than before. My hubby still feels pain when eating and drinking and I do when eating hard foods.

I have messaged the lady numerous times keeping her informed of our hell and last night she offered us £40 back, out of the £120.. I obviously turned this down but apparently I'm being unreasonable

Anyone thinking of laser whitening please be aware that there is a potential risk of severe agonising pain following the procedure.

I've since heard that if they're not on the dental register then this treatment is illegal, but is it? She claims no peroxide was used......"

Any thing placed on teeth that whitens them has the potential to damage, this poor lady and her husband regret not following the advice given by the NHS http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/dentalhealth/Pages/teeth-whitening.aspx

These are the people who need to be targeted appropriately.

Many people like Lorna do not use illegal or unsafe products.

No training or qualification is required for legal products.

I can provide a list a mile long of patients who have been seriously harmed by their dentist during the illegal whitening process.

brook2jack

Lorna jamous has been convicted by the judges in the High Court , she broke the law.

According to you she is appealing to the Supreme Court but as of now she is convicted of illegal practice of dentistry and that conviction was on the grounds of protecting the public from unqualified people practicing dentistry, nothing to do with the system used.

Anyone reading any beauticians forums eg salon geeks or talking to beauticians organisations eg habia or babtac will be aware there is no such thing as a qualification in tooth whitening and that it is illegal for non dentists. However unscrupulous individuals still advertise training packages, bogus qualifications, bogus regulatory authorities and assurances then disappear when the beauticians are sued. again multiple threads on this.

brook2jack

Teethwhiteninguk wrote: »

These are the people who need to be targeted appropriately.



I can provide a list a mile long of patients who have been seriously harmed by their dentist during the illegal whitening process.

Dentists are legally regulated and any complaint a member of the public wishes to make should be made in the first instance to the dental complaints service which is a free service to resolve complaints about private dental treatment. Most complaints are resolved within three weeks and patient satisfaction rates are over 80%.http://www.gdc-uk.org/sites/dcs/Pages/default.aspx

Teethwhiteninguk

brook2jack wrote: »

Lorna jamous has been convicted by the judges in the High Court , she broke the law.

According to you she is appealing to the Supreme Court but as of now she is convicted of illegal practice of dentistry and that conviction was on the grounds of protecting the public from unqualified people practicing dentistry, nothing to do with the system used.

Anyone reading any beauticians forums eg salon geeks or talking to beauticians organisations eg habia or babtac will be aware there is no such thing as a qualification in tooth whitening and that it is illegal for non dentists. However unscrupulous individuals still advertise training packages, bogus qualifications, bogus regulatory authorities and assurances then disappear when the beauticians are sued. again multiple threads on this.

This does not make your assertions correct.

Lorna has not been sentenced as the appeal is being prepared.

Have you read the court transcript or not?

welshdent

Teethwhiteninguk wrote: »

What thought?

where has this TS had their posts deleted?

Teethwhiteninguk

brook2jack wrote: »

Dentists are legally regulated and any complaint a member of the public wishes to make should be made in the first instance to the dental complaints service which is a free service to resolve complaints about private dental treatment. Most complaints are resolved within three weeks and patient satisfaction rates are over 80%.http://www.gdc-uk.org/sites/dcs/Pages/default.aspx

What has this got to do with the Jamous case?

brook2jack

You have asserted you know of a mile long list of patients harmed by dentists whitening teeth.

I would have thought as a consumer advisor you would want all these people you know to have their problems resolved? http://www.gdc-uk.org/sites/dcs/Pages/default.aspx is where private dental complaints are quickly resolved at no cost to the patient and with a high satisfaction rating.

welshdent

even a law firm is saying what brook has said.

http://www.mablaw.com/2013/05/high-court-rules-that-teeth-whitening-can-only-be-performed-by-dental-professionals-general-dental-council-jamous/

http://www.piblawg.co.uk/post/2013/05/17/When-is-a-dentist-not-a-dentist-Tooth-whitening-and-the-Dentists-Act-1984.aspx

why do you repeatedly and belligerently argue against a point of fact? Hell if you have access to the transcript put it up so we can see but there above are 2 independent (i.e. totally non dental) reports on that exact case saying exactly what brook has said. Tooth whitening is dentistry. Dentistry must be done by those licensed to do so. Disagree with it as much as you like, campaign against it as much as you like. But at present, in law from the high court, whitening is an act of dentistry. It is the carrying out of the procedure that is the problem. The material of choice used is completely wholly and utterly irrelevant on THIS point of law.