Businesses that operate teeth-whitening kiosks run by nondentists in malls and other locations have been fighting legal battles across various states.
Recently, the Atlanta-based company White Smile USA and at least one other Georgia company that provides the same service were served a voluntary cease-and-desist letter from the Georgia Board of Dentistry, according to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Like other state dental boards, the Georgia Board of Dentistry says this practice is "the unlicensed practice of dentistry."
Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Alabama have all taken measures to ban commercial teeth-whitening operations.
"They have no dental training," said Richard Smith, D.D.S., of Atlanta in the Journal-Constitution article. "I have deep reservations about the level of sterilization."
"Ninety-five percent of this is dentists trying to protect their turf," said Jim Valentine, one of the owners of White Smile, in the article.
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