Against a backdrop of a rise in ‘pop-up’ dental tourism clinics and latterly brick and mortar establishments offering ‘dental consultations’ and ‘smile makeovers’, we have voiced our concerns at significant gaps in regulatory oversight and enforcement in Northern Ireland.
While RQIA is responsible for registering establishments that offer private dental care and treatment, it is their view that existing legislation prevents them from being able to register a service where the ‘dental health professionals’ are not registered with the GDC, such as dentists from overseas.
Following correspondence between the Local Dental Committees and RQIA on this issue, we have taken the step of elevating the matter to the Health Minister, and to the GDC and RQIA.
Simply looking inside a patient’s mouth and examining their teeth and gums with the intention of offering dental treatment amounts to ‘the practice of dentistry’; this passes a line beyond simply the marketing of overseas dental services.
It is unconscionable that the public in Northern Ireland are being put at risk in scenarios where the practice of dentistry may be happening locally, for instance at pop-up events in hotels, and is going unchecked, being carried out by individuals who are not GDC registered in premises which are also unregistered and unregulated by RQIA.
This is in complete contrast with the overregulation of low-risk, highly reputable dental practices.
We are also seeking assurances about what enforcement powers the GDC hold, and how these powers are being exercised where dentistry is being carried out illegally by non-GDC registered individuals in Northern Ireland.
We are looking to the Health Minister to intervene so far as these issues fall directly within his department’s remit, and also in engagement with the GDC and others to ensure an approach which adequately protects the public in Northern Ireland.
The existing regulatory regime - with its significant loopholes - is falling short.