Ex-patients say dentist molested them

Three women allege a Canterbury dentist made them touch him sexually while they were sedated under his care, a disciplinary hearing has heard.

The dentist, who has name suppression, is charged with professional misconduct for three alleged incidents, in 1984, 1989 and 2001. In each case, he is alleged to have caused the women to touch his penis while they were sedated.

The dentist is also accused of administering higher than the recommended maximum dose of sedative to the three women.

The dentist was acquitted in 2002 after a court trial prompted by the 2001 incident.

The Dentists Disciplinary Tribunal in Christchurch yesterday heard from a woman who had had an appointment with the dentist to have wisdom teeth removed in 1989.

The patient, whose details are suppressed, alleged she came round from sedation to find her hand touching his penis.

She told the tribunal she did not open her eyes, but she was certain she was touching his penis.

The dentist's legal counsel, Harry Waalkens, showed the patient a thick spiral cable from a piece of dental equipment and asked if she could have been touching that instead.

"If I really thought that that is what I was touching, I would not be here today," she said.

The woman said she was unsure of what had happened at the time, but came forward after reading about the 2001 case in The Press.

She rejected suggestions she could have been hallucinating under the influence of the sedative.

"I believed it happened now. I know I was unsure then, but I am 100 per cent now that that was what I was touching. That is why I would not call it a hallucination," she said.

The opening submission by prosecution counsel Brent Stanaway detailed the two other alleged incidents.

The 1984 incident involves a woman who alleges the dentist caused her hand to touch his penis shortly after she was sedated.

Stanaway's written submission said the woman did not open her eyes to see what she was touching because she was "in a vulnerable position as she was going under sedation".

The 2001 allegation involves a patient who was sedated.

The written submission alleges she "became aware that [the dentist] had placed her hand on his penis and was touching her breasts".

The submission says she "witnessed the defendant's penis for just a second before he pulled his dental smock back over his trousers".

The patient complained to police, leading to the 2001 trial.

The hearing continues today.

- © Fairfax NZ News