Dental nurse offered ‘illegal strength’ whitening for teeth
ADENTAL nurse has been struck off for offering patients tooth whitening materials in ‘illegal strengths’.
Vivien Hassett advertised tooth whitening services on Facebook using materials that contained or released hydrogen peroxide in strengths higher than the limit that is imposed by law.
The registered Dental Nurse advertised materials with a hydrogen peroxide strength of up to 35 per cent on the page ‘Whitening Trays/ brighter smiles’.
The General Dental Council say that Ms Hassett dishonestly offered tooth whitening treatment using products up to 300 times the legal limit.
She has now removed from the register by the Professional Conduct Committee.
Discussing the determination, PCC chairwoman Geraldine Carroll said: “Ms Hassett’s dishonesty and her having acted outside of her scope of practice raise a significant public interest issue.
“Furthermore her willingness to offer tooth whitening materials in illegal strengths of hydrogen peroxide dem- onstrate that she poses a risk of harm to patients.”
Ms Hassett, a registered Dental Nurse in Rochdale, was brought before the committee to respond to three tooth whitening-related charges.
She did not attend and was not represented but the three charges were found proved.
The charges related to Ms Hassett’s actions between April and July 2015.
During this time she advertised tooth whitening services on social media using materials that contained or released hydrogen peroxide in strengths greater than 0.1%.
This is the limit imposed by law on tooth whitening services offered by a non-registered professional.
Copies of the correspondence between Ms Hassett and the GDC during the investigation showed that she denied any connection to the page and the products it was promoting.
This claim was later proved to be false.
The PCC judged that Ms Hassett knew she was acting wrongly by offering the services to the public.
As a result of her ‘dishonesty and the risk to patient safety’, the PCC took the rare step of removing her from the register.
She has been immediately suspended from the register in the interest of patient safety and has 28 days to appeal the decision.
Out sister paper the MEN has asked Ms Hassett for a comment.