Members of the Kenya Dental Association protest in Nairobi during a previous demonstration against proposals they said could allow unqualified people to provide dental care services. [File,Standard]
Illegal dental practice is putting patients at risk worldwide despite most countries having laws regulating dentistry, the FDI World Dental Federation (FDI) has warned.
A new global report by FDI, based on responses from 49 national dental associations, found that 95 per cent of countries have laws regulating dentistry.
Fewer than half of respondents, however, believe those laws are effectively enforced, with 49 per cent calling enforcement effective against 47 per cent who do not.
The report found that 58 per cent of countries had recorded cases in which patients were harmed by illegal dental treatment, while 62 per cent said they lacked reliable data on the scale of the problem.
