Beware of fashion braces
Dental Council moves to crack down on cosmetic trade
Dr Lloyd Prince, registrar of the Dental Council of Jamaica, has sounded a warning to persons engaged in the illegal braces trade that they will soon be nabbed by the long hand of the law.
Prince said that the council has started a campaign to educate persons about the illegal practice of dentistry, and to warn against engaging the services of some entities and individuals who advertise their products on social media.
“We are working from the notion that the braces are fake, so we are investigating and doing our due diligence. If it is anything less than professional, and putting the Jamaicans that are seeking oral and dental health at risk, it is a criminal matter so the police will be involved,” he said. “If persons are going to give fake care to the Jamaican public, we are going object to that.”
Prince hinted that there are investigations being done by the police to find persons who are behind the illegal practice to verify if they are registered dentists.
THE STAR contacted several persons who provide ‘fashion braces’, none of whom are formally trained and are not registered with the Dental Council of Jamaica.
A representative of one of these entities, based in the Corporate Area, admitted that he is not formally trained.
AUTHENTIC BRACES
“It costs $11,000 for both rows with cosmetic braces and $40,000 with authentic braces. I do it the same way how you see it on YouTube or any braces page on Instagram,” he said. “After that, you caah eat anything hard, yuh know that, and within the first three days you’ll feel some tenderness.”
Prince said the existing dental law is to be revised to deal with the areas of speciality such as orthodontics, which deals with braces.
Renowned dental surgeon D.K. Duncan has warned about the dangers of engaging the services of untrained persons to do dentistry.
“If you are not qualified to do braces, you are destroying the nerve and the tooth loses its vitality, and the patient may have to do a root canal treatment or lose the tooth. When you go to the qualified person who does braces, who is an orthodontist, they will place the tooth into the proper position, without creating damage,” he said.