Everything must be done under the prescription on a dentist. Nurses using a prescription are allowed, if trained, to take impressions to make the bleaching trays. This would have to take place with a dentist present in the building at the time. Same goes for dental therapists/hygienists using a prescription to perform bleaching.
This is taken from the GDC website x
Tooth whitening Q & As
What is the practice of dentistry?
The practice of dentistry is limited to GDC registrants. It is the Councils view that applying materials and carrying out procedures designed to improve the aesthetic appearance of teeth amounts to the practice of dentistry. So too does the giving of clinical advice about such procedures. Therefore all tooth whitening procedures, including bleach and laser treatment, are seen as the practice of dentistry by the General Dental Council.
Which GDC registrants can undertake tooth whitening?
Until recently, it was the Councils position that only dentists could undertake tooth whitening. At the Council meeting in June 2008, it was decided that in addition to dentists being able to carry out tooth whitening, dental hygienists and dental therapists, on the prescription of a dentist, can carry out tooth whitening as an additional skill.
It has also been decided that dental nurses can, as an additional skill, take impressions and make bleaching trays to a dentists prescription. Any registrant who undertakes work for which they are not sufficiently competent risks fitness to practise proceedings which may affect their registration.