Three random things
1) Jon Stewart totally rocked on the Daily Show tonight. I burned an extra 75 calories on the elliptical and some immeasurable amount more laughing my ass off.
2) Tim has been taking Rivers for a walk every morning for the past 5 days. 2 miles. While I'm so very proud of him, I'm also insanely jealous. Not of Rivers. Of Tim. I wish I could walk outside for two miles every day. In the morning when I have the energy too. I'm tired of the 8pm elliptical routine.
3) Listening to NPR in my car on the drive home as I normally do, I caught a story about how the Tennessee Board of Dentistry unanimously approved a policy that limits the prescribing and dispensing of teeth whitening gels or pastes to licensed dentists, or licensed dental hygienists and registered dental assistants under the direct supervision of a licensed dentist. I guess in Tennessee there was quite a booming teeth whitening kiosk business. The argument that the Dentistry Board made against allowing unlicensed "practicioners" to administer teeth whitening gel to "patients" was that
"To ensure the safety of the public, the board ruled that only licensed dental professionals should be authorized to apply teeth whitening formulations to patients."
Now, I'm really pretty indifferent to the whole cosmetic industry, whether it be stuff you plaster on your face, have injected into your lips, have sucked out of your stomach, or have bleached into your roots or soaked into your skin. Whatever makes people feel good about themselves is just fine with me. I personally think the whole botox and collagen-injection thing is not for me. But I'd be lying if I haven't at least given a fleeting thought to stomach fat removal if/when we win the big lottery. And I do get my hair coloured every few months to hide those greys. And I've been known to indulge in facials and put on makeup for special occasions. And yes, I even got a chemically induced tan before our honeymoon trip to Italy (I'm normally so pale I glow in the dark. I just wanted to feel a bit more comfortable in my pasty skin :-) Those are things that make me feel good. Heck, I even did take a stab at whitening my teeth before my wedding (but the stuff tasted so awful, and left my gums hurting so much I ended up having to give it up. Didn't make much of a difference anyway, since my teeth are pretty white to begin with, what with my no caffeine rule :-)).
But the main argument that the dental board has made seems to be a little bit lacking and at least to me, I am quite sure the main concern is not about public safety, but about trying to preserve a revenue stream that has been quite profitable to the dental industry.
1) There are plenty of over the counter counter whitening products available. By the dental board's argument, shouldn't those be removed from shelves and made available only by prescription? And yet the policy quite clearly states that over the counter products are not affected.
2) They interviewed one of the board members on NPR and the argument that he made was that these products could in fact pose a hazard if applied to someone who has gum disease, or dental issues and that only a licensed dental professional would be able to diagnose and judge whether or not this would be a problem. That seems a little odd to me. By that same logic, shouldn't I only be able to get a facial from a licensed dermatologist? Because some of those products can cause real problems if you use them on sensitive skin, or if you have allergies to any of the ingredients, or even if you're just currently taking antibiotics. And yet I can walk into any spa and sign a piece of paper that says I have no known allergies and am not taking antibiotics, and enjoy a relaxing facial with products laden with alpha hydroxies and acids and skin peeling chemicals that could leave me blind, covered in a rash, steam or chemical burns, or worse. And the person performing the procedure most definitely does not have a medical degree with a specialization in dermatology. And I can have my nose pores prodded and pricked with medical-like instruments to squeeze out the dirt and pick up a bacterial infection, or at least suffer a minor nose bleed or stab wound in the process. Not to mention the damage I can do to myself with those over-the-counter products. Dangerous stuff.
You know you want a facial now, don't you.
3) The board member also argued that by wearing white lab coats they are creating an impression that they are licensed dental professionals and thus deceiving the public into a false sense of security. My hair colourist wears a white lab coat. Yet I've never assumed she holds a medical degree. My facial person does too. And that metal pore poking thingie she wields like a weapon looks pretty doctorish. And yet I've never thought she was anything more than a beauty school graduate. Albeit one who is very very good at what she does. I almost always fall asleep when I get a facial :-) Granted, if I were into botox or collagen injections I think I would prefer to have that done by someone with a license for performing minor medical procedures and who has some formal training of how that stuff works in your body.
Now, if these kiosk people were actually TELLING clients that they were licensed medical professionals, or hanging certificates or handing out business cards implying the same then I'd definitely think they might be trying to create a false impression. But otherwise they're not wearing or doing anything different than what I see employees of a spa wearing and doing.
And so, really, I think this is all about the money the dental industry is afraid they are losing because these people are offering more convenient and cheaper solutions.
And those are my three random things.
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