The outgoing National President of the Nigerian Dental Association, Dr Tope Adeyemi, says offering dental treatments, especially teeth whitening, scaling and polishing, in beauty parlours is illegal.
He also warned that persons undergoing teeth whitening procedures at salons and beauty parlours were at risk of having a sensitive tooth and possibly death.
A sensitive tooth happens when the dentin is exposed, causing discomfort whenever hot, cold, sweet or acidic foods and drinks are consumed.
Furthermore, the NDA president asserted that most beauticians who carried out the services were not dentists and were not licensed to offer such services.
Adeyemi further decried the lack of cooperation with law enforcement agents to arrest and close down the saloons and parlours offering dental services illegally, stating that reported cases often resulted in no meaningful action.
The outgoing president called on law enforcement agencies to collaborate with the association to ensure the closure of illegal clinics for the safety and health of the citizenry.
PUNCH Healthwise reports that there has been a proliferation of beauty parlours and salons offering dental services, such as teeth whitening and scaling and polishing, alongside facial treatments, hairstyling, nail and spa services.
Further checks of some physical shops revealed that there were no separate rooms designated for the dental procedures.
Also, the procedure was done by attendants who did not wear the required protective covering, such as face masks or gloves.
But teeth whitening, according to the National Health Service, United Kingdom, is a form of dentistry that should “only be carried out by a dentist or another regulated dental professional, such as a dental hygienist or dental therapist, on the prescription of a dentist.”
WebMD notes that teeth whitening is a procedure to lighten the colour of the teeth and remove stains.
The methods, according to another health blog, Healthline, include sanding down stains, using bleach or ultraviolet light therapy.
Moreover, the active ingredient in the whitening product is hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide.
The Public Health section of the European Commission notes that 62 per cent of persons who used teeth whitening products containing hydrogen peroxide, complained of hypersensitivity (sensitive tooth), while 45.9 per cent reported soft-tissue irritation.
According to the World Health Organisation, oral diseases affect about 3.5 billion people globally with far-reaching consequences.
It adds that while oral diseases are preventable, they pose a major health burden in many countries and affect people throughout their lifetime, causing pain, discomfort, disfigurement and even death.
Continuing, the outgoing NDA president said, “Persons doing those procedures at beauty salons, more often than not are not dentists. The general public is usually deceived into accessing those services in those places but ideally, they shouldn’t and it’s not permissible.
“To carry out dental procedures in a beauty shop is very illegal. Treatment or handling of human tissue, which the mouth is part of, is to be done by trained professionals, and dentists. So if these beauticians are doing it, it is illegal and is not permitted.”
He further noted that several efforts by the association to curb the illegal practice yielded no result.
“So in the past and recently, we’ve had the police arrest a number of them but you know how Nigeria is. After their arrest, they get money and bail themselves out. Like a vicious cycle, they are arrested, bail themselves out and continue through their services. That’s the situation we are in,” Adeyemi said.
The dentist further noted that some persons exposed to the bleaching gels used in the teeth whitening procedures were at risk of tooth sensitivity.
