Two dental nurses erased
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- Published: Monday, 18 January 2016 06:57
- Written by News Editor
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A dental nurse from London has been removed from the General Dental Council's (GDC) register for providing tooth whitening and for falsely advertising her services. In a separate hearing, a dental nurse from Clacton-on-Sea Essex was removed from the register after an allegation of fraud and dishonest conduct involving a prescription for drugs.
The London nurse, Miss Samantha Simmons, carried out tooth whitening without the prescription of a dentist and advertised her services on social media. This included taking an impression of the teeth, constructing mouthguards/bleaching trays and providing the tooth whitening agent (gel) when it was outside of her scope of practice as she did not have the necessary skills and training. Some of the social media advertising included offering discounts. The Committee heard how by providing services which she was not qualified or registered to carry out, she made financial gain and her dishonesty brought the profession into disrepute.
The Committee said: "Dental care professionals occupy a position of privilege and trust in society and must make sure that their conduct at all times justifies both their patients' and the public's trust in the profession. By advertising, offering and providing treatment outside her scope of practice Miss Simmons did bring the profession into disrepute. By acting dishonestly, the Committee concluded that Miss Simmons did breach a fundamental tenet of the profession."
The Essex dental nurse was removed from the register after an allegation of fraud and dishonest conduct. Aimee Cannon used someone else’s name and details to complete a prescription in March 2014 while she worked at Clacton Dental Care. She then forged the signature of the head of practice, and that of the person whose details she used – who was not a patient at the surgery – in order to redeem the prescription at a Boots pharmacy. The GDC panel heard the drugs were for her own use.
The Committee noted that there had been a pattern of repeated dishonest behaviour and considered that such behaviour taken separately and more so collectively would be deplorable to fellow members of the profession and severely undermine public confidence in the profession. In the circumstances, the Committee determined that Ms Cannon's behaviour clearly amounted to misconduct. The Committee also found that Ms Cannon's fitness to practise was impaired by reason of her caution and her misconduct and decided to remove Ms Cannon from the register.
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