"Illegal teeth-whitening treatments that can burn gums and destroy teeth are being handed over in car parks and on doorsteps, a BBC investigation has found. Some gels, containing more than 500 times the legal limit of bleaching agent for over-the-counter products, are sold blatantly on social media. As part of the investigation, a BBC North West reporter was able to obtain a fraudulent teeth-whitening qualification, as well as being given "extreme" bleach and advised to "practise on friends and family"."
"In the UK, treatments using teeth-whitening products containing more than 0.1% hydrogen peroxide can only be carried out by dentists and other professionals registered with the General Dental Council (GDC). And products used in treatments offered by dentists cannot contain more than 6% hydrogen peroxide. However, products sold to undercover BBC reporters were sent to a laboratory for tests where results showed they contained hydrogen peroxide levels of up to 53%."
""I was in agony." Mrs Howson, who works in a hospital, was told by her dentist that the gel had caused irreparable damage and only the removal of four teeth would stop the pain. The grandmother said it had taken years and tens of thousands of pounds to repair some of the damage done by the hydrogen peroxide treatment, which she got in 2015."
Illegal teeth-whitening treatments are being offered in car parks, on doorsteps and via social media using high-strength bleaching gels. Some sellers provide fraudulent qualifications, "extreme" bleach and advice to practise on friends and family. Regulatory limits restrict non-professional products to 0.1% hydrogen peroxide and dentist-used products to 6%, but laboratory tests found products containing up to 53% hydrogen peroxide. The British Dental Association expressed alarm, and a patient who paid £65 for a salon treatment lost four teeth, suffered irreparable damage, and faced years of costly repair and loss of confidence.
Read at www.bbc.com
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