The Dental Council of Guyana is warning the general public to keep an eye out for phonies pretending to be certified dentists and dangerously offering dental braces placement.
Chairman of the Dental Council, Dr Pravesh Harry, explained that the Council has been keeping up its mandate to protect the public from these illegal practices.
The ‘quacks’, Dr Harry said, have been advertising the implementation of dental braces at what seems to be a slightly lower price than what is standard. This, he said, has been causing serious problems.
“The primary issue that has come to light in recent times is the promotion of braces on Facebook where you can see these ads for…very cheap, attractive prices,” he said.
Many times, however, these persons are unregistered and unqualified to perform any dental practices. As such, persons have been seriously injured by the incompetent fraudsters.
“This, of course, is very harmful because that particular specialty within dentistry can cause irreversible damages to patients who are going to be unsuspecting and very much unaware of the consequences of that nature of treatment,” Dr Harry said.
Additionally, the Chairman highlighted that many members of the general public are oddly referring to this form of orthodontic treatment as fashion pieces and this has caused several persons to want them installed, though having no reason for it.
“These braces are also being advertised for fashion purposes…it’s somewhat of a trend globally where people want to have braces because it looks cool [and]…very much a status thing, but there is no such thing as fashion braces. Braces are an orthodontic treatment done to correct dental and medical issues, not to look good,” he explained.
Dr Harry said that if someone is looking to have dental treatment, the patient must also own up to his responsibility to verify the status of the dental practitioner.
“Primarily, all dentists will be issued a certificate of registration at the beginning of the year. That certificate is displayed within their practice whether it be private practice or at a hospital. We [are encouraging] persons who are attending a clinic to look out for that and if they don’t see it, ask about it,” he noted.
The Dental Council is urging members of the public to continue to report these phony dental practitioners so that relevant action could be taken against them.
You can contact the Dental Council of Guyana at 629-3022 or email them on [email protected]
