Cowboy crackdown

The Tories are calling for tooth whitening rules to be tightened, says Colin Brown.

Cowboy operators who offer teeth whitening without proper dental training should face criminal action. This is line taken by the Tory spokesman on dental health, Mike Penning, who says: ‘I don’t think it is good enough to say there is already enough regulation. Sadly, we have to take it to a higher level because these cowboys just don’t care about the regulations.’
Mike draws a distinction between the ‘cowboy’ operators often found in beauty salons and professional dentists who provide teeth whitening in closely controlled conditions.
Gordon Brown is among those rumoured to have benefited from whitening procedures, although he denies it. The popularity of tooth whitening has led to a boom in business among some beauticians, who are offering it along with Botox injections. However, the growth in the use of hydrogen peroxide has led to a surge in complaints from people who claim it has robbed them of their smiles, with their teeth turning from white to grey.
Mike Penning is threatening a ‘crackdown on the cowboys’ who are neither trained dentists nor operating legally. He says that he receives lots of complaints about the after-effects of tooth whitening from people who have visited a beauty salon for their treatment. ‘The majority are highly qualified and offer a good service but there are cowboys out there and I want to stop them,’ he commented. 
The health department has dismissed Penning’s claims that the current punishment is too weak, saying that there is a tough regulatory regime and that the General Dental Council has made it clear that it is already illegal for beauticians to carry out care that should be left to a qualified dentist.
A Whitehall spokesman for the health department said: ‘Beauticians are breaking the law if they offer teeth whitening without proper dentists’ qualifications and they are regularly prosecuted by the consumer watchdogs’. However, if Mike Penning has his way, they could face criminal law.
In a written Commons answer, Ann Keen, the health minister for dentistry, said: ‘The General Dental Council considers that tooth whitening constitutes the practice of dentistry. Any registrant who undertakes work for which they are not sufficiently competent risks fitness to practise proceedings.’