title: The sale or supply of medicines by dentists.
abstract: The Medicines Act 1968 governs who can supply medicines in the U.K. The Act allows dentists to issue any medicine directly to a patient. However, this only applies if patients are receiving private treatment. The current NHS terms of service do not allow dentists to supply any medicines, other than those for immediate use before the issue of a prescription, directly to a patient receiving NHS treatment. A prescription must be supplied for ongoing treatment. If a dentist issues medicines directly to a patient, they must be labelled as a dispensed medicine as directed by the Medicines Act 1968 and the Medicines and for Human Use Regulations (1994).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Medicines are highly regulated and compliance with the law requires an understanding of the different laws governing medicines in relation to dentists.
authors.affiliation: North West Medicines Information Centre, 70 Pembroke Place, Liverpool, L69 3GF.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Randall
mesh_terms: D003815:Dentists / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004348:Drug Labeling / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007880:Legislation, Drug; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs / Q000600:supply & distribution; D053210:Pharmaceutical Preparations, Dental / Q000600:supply & distribution; D010594:Pharmacies / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000145:classification / Q000600:supply & distribution; D013218:State Dentistry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D053210:Pharmaceutical Preparations, Dental; D055553:Prescription Drugs