Benefits cheat offers illegal teeth whitening
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- Published: Wednesday, 17 January 2018 07:26
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Benefits cheat reality TV star Chelsey Harwood 'offers illegal £45 teeth whitening treatments' The 30-year-old has been advertising the treatments on Facebook, offering to give clients a whiter smile in their own homes. The GDC has warned that this could be illegal because they don't involve dentists.
The convicted benefits cheat has been advertising the treatments on Facebook, offering to give clients a whiter smile in their own homes. Chelsey, a former webcam girl, has live-streamed video of the treatments being carried out and insists she isn't doing anything illegal. The 30-year-old told the Liverpool Echo that the patients pop in a mouth guard on their own and she simply sells the treatments and offers advice.
But the General Dental Council (GDC) warned that treatments not carried out by qualified professionals including dentists could be illegal, and it is against the law to offer “advice or attendance” that would usually be given by a dentist. Unqualified practitioners could be prosecuted and even fined as much as £5,000.
On her Facebook account, Chelsey, who was jailed last year after a £25,000 benefits fraud case, claims she studied biomedical sciences at the prestigious US university Harvard. She defended her services and claimed that rather than operating as a dentist, she instead acts as a "private citizen". She said: “I’m not acting as a dentist, we don’t act as dentists. I do not touch the patient, I hand them the mouth guard, they put it in their own mouth, they put the light to their own mouth. I am acting as a private citizen.” She also claims that, before the teeth whitening is carried out, customers are asked to sign a waiver removing her of any liability for damage or malpractice.
The latest advice from the GDC states that ?only registered dentists, dental therapists, dental hygienists and clinical dental technicians, working to the prescription of a dentist, can perform teeth whitening treatments. The regulator's website also warns that people offering treatment for clients to self-administer also risk falling foul of the law.
According to the Tooth Whitening Information Group - a collective of British dental experts - the act of offering teeth-whitening is illegal, even if using over-the-counter products. They said: “The General Dental Council takes the view that applying materials and carrying out procedures designed to improve the aesthetic appearance of the teeth amounts to ‘the practice of dentistry’. This was recently confirmed by the High Court when it overturned a magistrates court’s decision to acquit Ms Lorna Jamous of the offences of practising dentistry and unlawfully carrying on the business of dentistry when not registered by the GDC. “Therefore, this confirms that tooth whitening can only be provided by a qualified and registered dentist, or a dental hygienist or dental therapist working to the prescription of a dentist.”
Report from Liverpool Echo
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