A survey on the uses of acupuncture by a group of UK dentists

A small number of fully trained Chinese doctors practise Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in western cities. Use of these services by British citizens is extremely limited, mostly due to lack of any knowledge on the effectiveness of acupuncture or exposure to complementary medicine in this country. Common situations where British patients seek the help of TCM are when medical therapy has failed; in relapsing chronic diseases like asthma, rheumatoid arthritis; and in pain management (mostly headache, migraine and back pain). Patients often appreciate that only limited interventions are available for treatment of these conditions in western medicine. At least one in 10 UK specialist physicians are actively involved in complementary and alternative medicine treatments.(1) A large number of westerners offer acupuncture therapy but lack basic medical training. It is likely that people are reluctant to use these services largely because of hygiene and safety reasons. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that the serious side effects reported are five times more frequent when treatments are provided by non-medically trained therapists compared with professionally registered health care providers.(2).