/ 8 April 2007

The case of the dirty dentist

A dentist was barred from his practice when he was found guilty on Thursday of urinating in a surgical sink and using sterilised dental instruments on his ears and nails.

Alan Hutchinson, a 51-year-old father of three, was erased from the dental register after a medical tribunal in London found him to have acted in an inappropriate and unprofessional way at his clinic in Batley, northern England.

The General Dental Council heard how Hutchinson used unhygienic practices, including probing his ears and cleaning his fingernails with sterilised tools, refusing to routinely wear gloves and urinating in the clinic sink.

He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges except that of not regularly wearing gloves, claiming he had a latex allergy.

During the hearing in London, dental nurse Claire Pygott said she could smell urine coming from a sink moments after seeing Hutchinson “tucking something” into his trousers before seeing a patient in March last year.

The case came to light after an unnamed woman, whose family also used the clinic, told North Kirklees Primary Care Trust that Hutchinson had refused to wear gloves while removing her wisdom tooth. — AFP