US Supreme Court opens door to non-dentist whitening
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- Published: Wednesday, 11 March 2015 07:57
- Written by News Editor
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The US Supreme Court has ruled by a 6-3 majority that North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners cannot restrict teeth-whitening work to dentists. The Court ruled that agreed the Federal Trade Commission can charge the Board with ‘anti-competitive and unfair’ actions in seeking to stop tooth whitening by beauty salons in shopping malls.
The Supreme Court effectively rejected the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners’ tight control over the teeth-whitening business. The court’s decision did not, by itself, explicitly stop the Board’s actions that restrict teeth-whitening work to dentists. The decision does, however, reject the Board’s argument that it enjoyed immunity from the Federal Trade Commission filing charges.
North Carolina dentists began teeth-whitening services in the 1990s. By 2003, non-dentist providers began offering the same service in spas and salons. They charged less, prompting dentists to complain to the state board, which subsequently issued cease-and-desist orders to the non-dentists. The state board also wrote to malls and other businesses, urging them not to lease space to non-dentists who provided teeth whitening. Some letters warned that the unauthorized practice of dentistry was a misdemeanor subject to criminal prosecution.
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