Dental Act needs more teeth to punish breaches, says JDA president
Published:Friday | February 16, 2024 | 12:06 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
DR SHAKA Cooke, president of the Jamaica Dental Association (JDA), says his organisation will be lobbying the Ministry of Health and Wellness to update Jamaica’s Dental Act in order to adequately punish persons who offer illegal dental services, such as installation of fashion braces.
Speaking with journalists during the JDA’s 60th annual dental convention at the Royalton Blue Waters Hotel in Corral Spring, Trelawny, on Wednesday, Cooke said that the practice of installing fashion braces, or performing of any dental work without proper certification, puts patients’ health and even their lives at risk.
“If you notice on Instagram, you will see a lot of veneers [thin coverings placed over the front of teeth] and a lot of fashion braces. These are not done by licensed professionals, and the equipment they use is not properly sterilised, and it’s putting our citizens at risk because you can transmit HIV, syphilis, or herpes, from one patient to the next if these persons aren’t trained or have the equipment to sterilise items and properly serve the nation,” said Cooke.
“With these fashion braces, persons move the teeth to a point where sometimes the mouth can’t close, so it’s a public health crisis that we have lobbied the Ministry of Health and the Dental Council about,” Cooke added. “One of the ways to address it is that we have a Dental Act which came into effect in 1976, which is way outdated. We are going to continue dialogue with Minister Tufton [Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton] to get this act back in Parliament to have it updated, to reflect the realities that we have today in Jamaica.”
Section 9A of the current Dental Act stipulates that a registered dentist can only practice dentistry while in possession of a valid practising certificate issued in its correct form by the Dental Council.
Under Section 16 of the same act, a person who makes a false declaration or fraudulent certificate of dentistry may be fined up to $1 million or spend two years in prison, or both. Additionally, any person who misleads others into believing he or she is authorised to practise dentistry, advertises themselves accordingly, or practises dentistry without being legally registered, may be fined $1 million or serve 12 months in prison, or both.
Cooke noted that in some cases, persons who seek dental services from unlicensed individuals run the risk of death if they get cosmetic treatments that cover up cavities in their teeth, which in turn could lead to worse infections or death.
“The Dental Council is supposed to be the one who targets these people and sends the law enforcement to shut them down. However, the Dental Council is also hampered by constraints of the Dental Act, so we need more teeth in the laws for the dental council to properly do their job,” said Cooke. “If you put a pretty veneer over a tooth that has an infection or a cavity, that infection can spread to the brain and cause death. It is a serious thing, and you have to have the knowledge and the schooling to know how to better treat it, because it is not just a smile, but people don’t understand that the teeth are connected to the rest of the body, it’s part of your health.”
Meanwhile, Dr Vanessa Kiffin, president of the Jamaica Association of Public Dental Surgeons [JAPDENS], told Wednesday’s convention that it is the moral duty of her organisation and the JDA to stand up against illicit dental practices.
“The rampant rise in illegal practices of dentistry, particularly the dangerous trend of fashion braces and veneers, is a grave threat to the well-being of our nation. It is our moral imperative as health professionals, as dental surgeons, to say to the public, ‘do not be fooled by the lore’,” said Kiffin.
“These illegal practices of dentistry put their very lives at risk, and we have to do something about it; we must crack down on it, and it must be dealt with. By joining forces, JAPDENS and the JDA can send a clear message to those who perpetrate this illicit trade that we will not tolerate the endangerment of our people. It is not right, and it must be halted at all costs,” Kiffin added.