Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

existing law. Actually it is a Directive - 76/768/EEC An- nex III.” This Directive covers the use of hydrogen peroxide in consumer products across four sectors including hair and nail products; however for dental professionals it makes the most striking impact. The amendment states: The SCCS (Scientific Committee on Con- sumer Safety) considers that the use of tooth whitening or bleaching products containing more than 0.1 per cent and up to 6 per cent of hydrogen per- oxide present or released from other compounds or mixtures in these products may be safe if the following conditions are satisfied: an appropriate clini- cal examination is carried out in order to ensure there are no risk factors or any other oral pathology of concern and that exposure to these products is limited so as to ensure that the products are used only as intended in terms of frequency and duration of application. These conditions should be ful- filled in order to avoid reason- ably foreseeable misuse. Those products should therefore be regulated in a way that ensures that they are not directly available to the con- sumer. For each cycle of use of those products, the first use should be limited to dental practitioners ... or under their direct supervision if an equiva- lent level of safety is ensured. Dental practitioners should then provide access to those products for the rest of the cy- cle of use. (European Union Council Directive 2011/84/EU) Dr Chan believes that the confusion is many think the directive is looking at tooth whitening as a whole, includ- ing in-surgery (power) whit- ening. In fact, as a cosmetic directive it is just concerned with whitening products that are supplied to patients (con- sumers) for take home use. He said: “It’s great news for den- tal practitioners because now the level is raised from 0.1 per cent (which was ineffec- tive as a treatment) to six per cent, which is very effective. With six per cent take home we can get excellent results. It doesn’t matter what product you use, with six per cent you will get results. So the clar- ity we now have is nothing to do with the debate people are having at the moment – which is about chairside [whitening]. This has nothing to do with chairside – they are amending the law about oral hygiene products. “The original Directive came into force in 1976, regu- lating products directly avail- able to the consumer as over the counter products. That’s why it was limited to 0.1 per cent hydrogen peroxide be- cause of daily use and long term exposure. I agree with the cosmetic commission of the EU that it should be reg- ulated, that the level should not be more than 0.1 per cent because you can swallow a lot of toothpaste and mouth rinse into the stomach every day. So it was correct at that time, 1976. In the early 1990s teeth whitening became pop- ular, it became the norm. In 1976 there was no such thing as home whitening, it was brand new technology. Things seemed to be moving too fast for the EU – they need- ed to catch up with the new technology. “They’ve (SCCS) been debating for years the safe amount for consumer self- dosing application, and there’s a lot of evidence from scien- tists, and they all agree that up to six per cent is safe for the consumer to take home. Of course this is after they’ve had a clinical examination - there are conditions attached which I think is fair, for exam- ple they need to be examined by a dentist so now take home whitening is officially a den- tal procedure. In addition the first use should be by a dental practitioner, or supervised by a dental practitioner, so now home whitening is very much the practice of dentistry.” Another big issue regard- ing whitening is the rise of people outside of dentistry providing tooth whitening services to the public. With the law amendment, Dr Chan says this can help put a stop to this, protecting patients fur- ther. “I think this amendment has plus and minuses. A plus is that there are a lot of non-dental professionals – I’ll not call them beauticians, as many are me- chanics and bricklayers trying to make some fast money - giving customers hydrogen peroxide to take home with them so that will be stopped now. Trading Stand- ards Agencies can stop anything illegal in home whitening. For a non-dental professional to use products with more than 0.1 per cent – that is illegal. If a non- dental professional continues using hydrogen peroxide at 0.1 per cent or less you won’t see results. But by using six per cent you do see results. All that is ille- gal now, so I’m quite happy. “On the other hand, for those non-professionals who are just doing it chair side, then unfor- tunately this is outside the remit of Trading Standards regulation. But the General Dental Council has said all along that teeth whit- ening is a practice of dentistry. So the General Dental Council can prosecute illegal activity – it can close them down.” In an attempt to help den- tal professionals understand tooth whitening and what can be done, Dr Chan has partnered with Healthcare Learning Smile- on to develop a new educational programme on the subject. “I’m really excited about it, because when it comes to legality a lot of dentists are still confused be- cause a lot of companies are withdrawing chair side prod- ucts and we need to review the literature. A lot of clarity has to be made in this field. We’ll be able to supply dental profession- als with the supporting docu- ments about whitening so you can cover the legality but it will also aim to teach them about the modern ways of do- ing teeth whitening effectively. There is a lot of talk that chair side whitening is all about dehydrating the teeth but that is just not true. I do a lot of chairside whitening - you need a lot of knowledge to make it work. This programme is so important because you’ll learn how to do it properly. We talk about chairside whiten- ing, home whitening, how to deal with patients with sensitivity.” DT To review the amendment to the whitening Directive go to http://ec.europa.eu/con- sumers/sectors/cosmetics/ documents/directive/#h2-con- solidated-version-of-cosmet- ics-directive-76/768/eec page 1DTß Dr Wyman Chan at work in his practice Professional Teeth Whitening with Wyman For more information contact 020 7400 8989 or email info@healthcare-learning.com Through years of clinical research Wyman Chan has revolutionised the teeth whitening process Now you can learn for yourself with his comprehensive and engaging eLearning programme Coming Soon Everything you need to get started with Wyman Chan’s award winning techniques Professional Teeth Whitening with Wyman October 29 - November 4, 20122 News United Kingdom Edition