Teeth whitening is the most popular form of cosmetic treatment available in the UK. Its increasing popularity in recent times may have been stimulated by the reduced cost of treatment which has been driven down, by what in effect, are “rouge traders”.
These “rouge traders” offer teeth whitening at a reduced cost but have no form of dental qualification. The General Dental Council who regulate the practice of dentistry in the UK deem teeth whitening as a dental procedure and therefore anyone providing teeth whitening should have a dental qualification. If they don’t, they are providing tooth whitening illegally.
The General Dental Council deem tooth whitening as a dental procedure for a very good reason. If you have your teeth whitened and have a hole in one of your teeth (tooth decay) then the whitening gel can leak into this hole and cause you tooth to die resulting the need for expensive root canal therapy. Even if there are no obvious holes in your teeth, there can still be holes that are not visible to the naked eye and only x-rays can detect, which only dentists are qualified to take.
So what at first may seem like a good idea and a way to save money in the short term can lead to the need for more complex and expensive dental procedures being required in the future. So before you undertake any form of tooth whitening check that the person providing it has a dental qualification, and isn’t a “rouge trader” who just fancied giving it a go.
