Teeth whitening and the Law

[Manda Panda]

I have been approached by a teeth whitening technician who would like to rent a room within our salon. Can anyone tell me what the law is surrounding this treatment. I have emailed habia but had no response. As long as the technician has insurance and training certificate is there anything else I need to be aware of?

 

[geeg]

Personally I don't think anyone but a dentist should be doing teeth whitening and I would not go near anyone else doing it. I hope it is against the law for anyone but a dentist to do the treatment.

 

[TracyS]

I think it depends on the %age strength of the product being used as to whether it can only be supplied by a dentist. I have a friend who looked into it as they were offered kits to retail.

Personally, my teeth of too precious to mess around with so only my dentist would get near them. You could try contacting the GDC for their guidance.

 

[ProperPrincess]

I have been approached by a teeth whitening technician who would like to rent a room within our salon. Can anyone tell me what the law is surrounding this treatment. I have emailed habia but had no response. As long as the technician has insurance and training certificate is there anything else I need to be aware of?

I'd never go anywhere except to a dentist to have my teeth whitened. I say this because a day or weeks course cannot possibly provide any therapist with the appropriate amount of training to be using harsh chemicals on someone's teeth! My best friend is a dental nurse and I know only too well how many people turn up with blisters poor results and unhappy faces from Groupon deals, home teeth whitening and joe blogs with a syringe! I don't think it would be that busy and question whether she would be there long... Leading to you having no rent or an empty space and possibly a damaged reputation? X

 

[user 52471]

Only professionals qualified in dentistry are able to do this treatment. The GDC have a register for qualified dentists and if somebody is doing teeth whitening who is not on that list they can face prosecution
Xx

 

[Evaperk]

One of my clients came the other day with really white teeth, she'd had a lady come to her house charged £80. She said she had 3 treatments in the same session and after the third her teeth really hurt! They looked great but eek!

 

[tanfastic]

I have done a few treatments and have some information on the law, trading standards etc. If you like I will scan and PM them over to you or send you a link. There are a lot of illegal treatments out there, usually cheap and nasty. By law they are not allowed to use a hydrogen peroxide percentage greater that 0.1% which really is not enough to bleach the teeth. They seem to get around this by mixing other chemicals in that when combined create a greater percentage. If they do this their insurances will be null and void so be very careful. I have found that most people prefer to go to their dentist as Gigi suggested and that the ones trying to avoid the dentists want a cheap fix and wont be prepared to pay the higher prices that the legal non damaging products are available at. Here is worrying thought, I spoke to a dental nurse the other day and they use a 15% Hydrogen Peroxide solution. Clearly outside the legal limits. How do THEY get around this one and what would their insurers say if a claim arose

If you do want to offer teeth whitening shop around and try to find a system that does not use peroxide which causes the teeth sensitivity and can destroy the enamel. Scary.

 

[tanfastic]

Only professionals qualified in dentistry are able to do this treatment. The GDC have a register for qualified dentists and if somebody is doing teeth whitening who is not on that list they can face prosecution
Xx

Actually it's not illegal as now it is classified as a cosmetic treatment so any Tom Dick or Harry can have a go. Even scarier, this is why you have to be SOOO careful
The Cosmetis Products (Safety) Regulations 2008 prohibit and restrict the use and supply of certain ingredients in the cosmetic products supplied to consumers, many teeth whitening products can contain more than the safe and permitted level of hydrogen peroxide and anyone who supplies these to consumers can commit an offence but if you are within the 0.1% margin you seem to be able to as you wish

Get on to your local trading standards agency this is where I got my information from and have actually now stopped offering these treatments a I am not a pharmacist and cant check the chemicals I am supplied with so not willing to take a chance.

Good luck

 

[salpep]

Lynne Baker posted this in another thread, proves for interesting reading!

Defendant pleads guilty in tooth whitening case

 

[tanfastic]

Very interesting, don't touch with a barge pole I would say, I knew the GCD would not take long before they "bite" back. No pun intended, but we see it all the time don't we, cowboys out there trying to muscle in on professional services and giving the industries involved a bad name. These people are unscrupulous and I feel sorry for the ones that have been duped into buying up Franchises and then facing charges. On the other hand they ought to have researched the products before jumping in the deep end.
Glad I never tried to make a living at this