WHEN the British Dental Health Foundation was set up just over 40 years ago, a staggering one-in-three adults in the UK had no teeth at all.

Thankfully, the days of the toothless grin are a thing of the past, thanks to improved health care and education on the importance of brushing. Indeed, 94 per cent of us can now expect to keep our teeth right through our lives.

So why, in National Smile Week, which begins today, is the General Dental Council (GDC) calling for tougher controls on dental treatment?

Before the NHS brought universal dental care, the emphasis for many was just about keeping their teeth.

Today, however, people not only expect to keep their teeth, but to keep them looking perfect and whiter than white.

This has led to a rise in cosmetic dental treatments and products, with some procedures available in your local shopping centre or salon. It is this which the GDC is calling for tougher controls over.

Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, says horror stories abound of patients having inappropriate treatment with either peroxide, or often chlorine dioxide, which can lead to damage to tooth enamel, sensitivity, yellowing of the teeth and gum problems.

He said: “We therefore support the GDC’s position and welcome the fact that they are taking a strong stance and bringing cases to court for the illegal practice of dentistry.”

He warns that the correction of problems may not be cheap on irreversibly damaged teeth.

He said: “Veneers may need to be placed on top of teeth to protect them.”

The Association of Cosmetic Teeth Whitening reports that tooth whitening is now the fastest-growing cosmetic industry in the UK and Ireland – growing year-on-year at a rate of more than ten per cent.

However for the last 35 years the message of National Smile Month has remained largely unchanged: brush for two minutes twice a day, eat fewer sugary foods and visit your dentist regularly. And it seems to have worked.

“Interestingly, after three decades, we now have some of the highest twice-daily brushing rates in Europe,” says Dr Carter.

But for those of you determined to go for treatment to get that brilliant white smile, top cosmetic dentist Dr Jonathan Wu warns it is pointless paying £300 for a treatment and having all your teeth fall out later on. It needs to be done in a healthy mouth. Like all cosmetic treatments, he adds, whitening can’t fix everything.

He said: “A patient should be told that bleaching doesn’t work so well on eroded teeth with less enamel and won’t bleach a filling or a crown,”

Most customers, he adds, tend to opt for the straightforward ‘home method’ of bleaching.

He warns: “Dentists in the UK follow the letter of the law and also use the products that do. The danger of buying DIY kits on the web is they could come from somewhere else, where you’re not protected by our legislation.”

For more information on caring for your teeth, go to www.smilemonth.org