The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) today warned people and dental staff to be wary when buying dental equipment from the Internet after its enforcement investigators seized a number of potentially dangerous fake dental instruments.
The MHRA is the U.K. government agency responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe.
Following an MHRA raid at a business address in the West Midlands, a total of 100 fake dental instruments were seized, including light-cure composites, gutta-percha points, scaling tools and tips, and high-speed handpieces that did not have the European CE Mark and do not carry the appropriate warnings or instructions for use.
The MHRA launched the raid after an anonymous complaint was received regarding a portable dental x-ray unit without the CE Mark that was bought over the Internet on eBay, according to an agency press release. Following a purchase via eBay, tests revealed that one of the machines available for sale had a lack of sufficient shielding in the x-ray tube, which could mean that the machines emit harmful radiation levels to the operator of the machines and patient.
The MHRA is working with eBay to prevent any further unapproved devices being sold.
