BDBS Conference & Charity Dinner

Thursday 26th July 2012                        

Non Members Welcome

The Annual General Meeting of the British Dental Bleaching Society (BDBS) will take place on Thursday 26th July 2012 at the Royal College of Surgeons, and will mark the start of the Bleaching Conference 2012.

Our key note speaker is Dr Bruce Matis, of Indiana University School of Dentistry and will be joined by Dr Linda Greenwall, Dr Mervyn Druian and Dr James Goolnik.

To end the day in style the BDBS will be hosting a 3 course dinner to support the work of the Dental Wellness Trust Charity. 

Click for more details on the Dental Wellness Trust

This event is FREE to members (with a donation asked of attending partners), and will provide practitioners with the ideal opportunity to network with peers within the sumptuous settings of the Edward Lumley Hall.

Please complete the registration form and return it to Sarah Jewell via email or post - info@bdbs.co.uk or 5 Elm Terrace, Constantine Road, London NW3 2LL.

REGISTER NOW

21 September 2011

BDA pleased to see agreement on future regulation of whitening products

The British Dental Association (BDA) is pleased to see an agreement to amend the regulations governing the availability and use of tooth whitening products, which comes after longstanding lobbying, it has said. A meeting of the European Commission抯 Council has supported recommendations put forward by the European Union抯 Scientific Committee on Consumer Products in 2007. The BDA and its partners in the Council of European Dentists (CED) have fought for a decision on this issue for almost four years.

The new regulations will mean that products containing or releasing over 0.1 per cent hydrogen peroxide cannot be provided directly to the consumer. Whitening products over 0.1 but less than six per cent hydrogen peroxide will only be available to patients following an examination and a first episode of treatment provided or supervised by a dentist. This is to ensure that patients are able to use products provided to them properly at home.

Announcing the agreement, the European Commission has also asked the Council of European Dentists, via the dental associations in each member state, to monitor the use of whitening products and any ill effects they cause. It is hoped this will help build a fuller picture of the use of whitening products around Europe.

Dr Stuart Johnston, Chair of the BDA抯 Representative Body and Chair of the Council of European Dentists?working group on tooth whitening, said: "This long-awaited decision is good for dentists and their patients. It puts patient safety first by recognising the importance of examination by a dentist before whitening treatments are provided and updates the legal position on whitening products for dental professionals. It is also good news for Trading Standards Officers, who now have a clear indication that they should pursue non-dentists who supply whitening products. We welcome this announcement and look forward to its implementation."

The agreement does not change the official position on products containing or releasing products of greater than six per cent hydrogen peroxide and these therefore remain illegal to use. The BDA will monitor any advances in the evidence base for these higher strength products and campaign for legislative changes that reflect those advances.

11 May 2011

Public Attitudes to Tooth Whitening Regulation

Independent Research, commissioned by the GDC, provides evidence, for the first time in the United Kingdom, about public attitudes to tooth whitening and patient safety. The research found very strong support for the GDC’s policies of regulating tooth whitening to protect patient safety and prosecuting illegal practice. Key findings from a representative opinion survey of UK residents, carried out for the GDC in December 2010 are.

To see the full page please click on the link to download a PDF document.

Public Attitudes to Tooth Whitening Regulation

25 March 2011

Defendant pleads guilty in tooth whitening case

In the first case of its kind the UK’s dental regulator, the General Dental Council (GDC), has successfully prosecuted a non-registrant for performing tooth whitening, which the GDC regards as the practice of dentistry.

On Wednesday at City of Westminster Magistrates Court in London 48 year old Paul William Hill of Warrington, Director of  PW Healthcare Consulting Limited, pleaded guilty to 4 offences including practising dentistry while not registered as a dentist or dental care professional between 2 October 2010 and 11 March 2011. Under the Dentists Act 1984 it is an offence for non-registrants to practise or be prepared to practise dentistry.

Mr Hill has been ordered to pay a total of £6,265 in fines and costs and PW Healthcare Consulting Limited, which traded nationally as Style Smile Clinics, has been ordered to pay a total of £6,765. The amounts include costs of £5,500 for the GDC.

The GDC launched the case last year after it received hundreds of complaints from members of the public and dental professionals about tooth whitening treatment being provided by individuals who are not registered dental professionals.
The GDC, which regulates all dental professionals in the UK, began criminal proceedings under the Dentists Act 1984 on the grounds that tooth whitening may only lawfully be provided by those who are registered dental professionals.
Charges relating to two other people and one other company have been adjourned until 18 May.

Chief Executive and Registrar of the GDC, Evlynne Gilvarry said:
“This case has significant implications for the dental profession and for public protection. The General Dental Council will now consider its position carefully with regards to the hundreds of other complaints about the illegal practice of dentistry that it has received. We are concerned about the risk to the public posed by such potentially hazardous treatment being provided by people without the training and qualifications necessary for registration as a dental professional.”

For media enquiries, please contact Moira Alderson on 020 7009 2756 or malderson@gdc-uk.org

17th March 2011

The dark side of white teeth: DIY whiteners can be dangerously addictive, cause chemical burns and leave teeth yellower than before

By Anna Maxted
Last updated at 9:09 AM on 17th March 2011



When my five-year-old son suddenly exclaimed: ‘Why are your teeth so dirty, Mummy?’, I knew it was time to do something.
Years of drinking coffee and red wine had left my teeth stained and grey. It had bothered me — I’d started wearing only dark tops (white made my teeth look lemon-yellow) and grimacing at friends through closed lips.
But the ‘dirty teeth’ comment was the final straw. That day, I made an appointment at a smart dental practice to have my teeth professionally whitened.



Read more:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1366290/The-dark-white-teeth-DIY-whiteners-dangerously-addictive.html#ixzz1HL44zFUM

Sir Paul Beresford, Secretary and Executive Member of BDBS

HANSARD DEBATE: Dental Practitioners

29 November 2010, 10.00 am

Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley) (Con): I am particularly glad, Mr Speaker, that you are here this evening. I am also glad that my hon. Friend the Minister is on the Front Bench. I hope that he remains my hon. Friend by the end of the evening, but I have had some moments of doubt.

As my hon. Friend is aware, I have a declarable interest in this subject. I am a very part-time practising dentist. I am a member of the British Dental Association, the British Dental Bleaching Society and the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, and I have a link with Lockton, a dental indemnity insurer.

Many of us in the real world of business had great hopes of the new Government, especially in the area of deregulation. Quangos were to be removed, or at least diminished in size, and bureaucracy was to be cut back. Indeed, many Departments have been spectacularly successful in this respect. The Minister's Department has shown an early positive approach, with plans to remove primary care trusts. Sadly, the Care Quality Commission, which was set up by the previous Government, has slipped through the net. This organisation is now displaying a cancerous bureaucratic growth that I would have expected from the combination of the previous Labour Government working hand in hand with some overbearing Labour council.... read more (PDF)
 

Prestigious US honour for dentist

18th November 2010

Ed Lynch, Executive Member of BDBS

Edward Lynch, voted the top most influential figure within UK dentistry in our Top 50 poll, has scooped another award.
 
Dr Lynch is head of Warwick Dentistry, part of Warwick Medical School, and has been honoured with accredited membership of the prestigious American Society for Dental Aesthetics (ASDA).

Fewer than 200 educators, innovators and practitioners worldwide have received this distinguished accredited membership since ASDA was established in 1976, when it became the first aesthetic dental association in the world.

Throughout its 34 year history, the association has sought to raise awareness of this specialised area of dentistry by showcasing those experts who are able to share the best and most innovative techniques, newest technologies and most comprehensive educational formats. 

Edward says: ‘I'm delighted to receive the honour of this prestigious accreditation and hope that it allows us to continue to raise awareness about the excellent and innovative dental education and research we provide in Warwick Dentistry at Warwick Medical School.

‘We are building a team of world-class academics in Warwick Dentistry and we aim to be a world-leading postgraduate unit, internationally renowned for our high quality and relevance of our education programmes and for the excellence and significance of our research. The Guardian June 2010 rankings placed the University of Warwick as the third best university in the UK and I am very proud to be working here.'

To mark his membership, Edward was asked to give the prestigious keynote address at the annual ASDA congress in San Antonio, Texas. 
 
ASDA introduced his keynote address by recognising his efforts in the development of education and research in dentistry and for his many achievements and contributions to the profession, appearance related dentistry, dental education and research. 
 
He was also voted by his peers in April 2010 as this year's most influential person in UK dentistry.