Arguments began on Thursday in a lawsuit filed by two Alabama businesses seeking to overturn a state law restricting nondentists from offering teeth-whitening products and services. The 2013 lawsuit claims the state law is an unconstitutional attempt by the state's dentists to create a monopoly and is an illegal restriction on business, according to an Associated Press (AP) story.
The Alabama Board of Dental Examiners argued that the law is justified because teeth-whitening poses a potential threat to public health. Circuit Judge Elisabeth A. French said she would rule later on the lawsuit, which was filed in 2013.
Attorneys for businesses trying to revoke the law said about 30 states have passed restrictions on teeth-whitening products or services, and similar court fights are underway in Connecticut, Georgia, and North Carolina.
The Alabama law was passed three years ago restricting businesses such as nail salons from selling teeth-whitening products. Violators face $5,000 fines and jail, but opponents of the law point out that consumers can buy the products in retail stores and use them at home with no supervision.
Attorneys for the businesses assert that real aim of the law is to protect the state's 3,600 dentists from competition, since they charge much more for teeth-whitening treatments than businesses such as nail or tanning salons. Salon charge less than $100, while dentists charge as much as $650 for whitening treatments.
Representatives for the state dental board contend that uncertainty over the safety of teeth whitening justifies the law.
Keith Westphal, a nondentist who whitens teeth in North Carolina, wants to expand into Alabama but can't because of the law, according to the story. Joyce Osborn Wilson of Jasper, AL, got a cease-and-desist letter from the state after the law took effect and was forced to stop selling teeth-whitening products in Alabama.
