Police Called to Practice after AI Disagreement
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- Published: Monday, 17 November 2025 10:02
- Written by Peter Ingle
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Successful dental treatment usually requires high levels of patient compliance, but the collapse of one patient dentist relationship, may flag a new challenge for dental teams. As reported in The Mail, the consultation rapidly went downhill, ending with an urgent call for the police to come to the practice.
The incident unfolded in Melbourne in November 2025 when Caerwin Martin attended an appointment with a dentist she had been referred to after ongoing issues with pain.
The strange situation developed rapidly, at what she expected to be a routine examination. It quickly escalated when the dentist asked for her consent to use an AI programme to take notes.
“He said he was using AI to make notes and write referrals and I said no, I’m a musician and I’m divesting in AI,” she said. “He kind of froze and looked at his assistant and after that became really agitated.”
“I opened my mouth and he looked inside for like 30 seconds and said I needed a referral and that was it. He seemed annoyed and was really jittery and kind of bouncing his leg angrily.”
As the dentist sat to write the referral, Ms Martin, who is a composer, said the topic was raised again. “I told him I didn’t think it was safe and I had security concerns about it and he said that was legally untrue and he couldn’t allow me to say things that were legally untrue,” she added.
“It was really weird and I don’t really understand that sentence, but that’s what he said and then he absolutely lost it.”
Then Ms Martin said, “things got really heated.” She told the dentist that he needed to regulate himself and asked if he wanted her to leave. “I left the appointment and walked to reception to pay and he chased me out into the waiting room and yelled ’call the police.”
“The receptionist, who was a bit perplexed, called the police, called triple zero.”
Mrs Martin said that she waited on reception until the police arrived. “The police officer thought it was quite funny. He walked up and goes, ’what’s going on?’ This was a triple zero call, an emergency, and there’s me sitting calmly in the waiting room.”
Following a brief conversation with the police officers, she left the practice and has not heard back since.
After the confrontation, she contacted the Dental Board of Australia for advice. “They were amazing. They said I absolutely did have the right to choose and what happened shouldn’t have happened,” she said.
“And what I think this raises is a bit of a conversation around AI use in medical practitioners. I know people are often asked by GPs if they do use AI, do they have your consent and permission and of course you should be allowed to say no. I have lots of ethical reasons why I don’t want AI to have access to my medical records. I also don’t want my medical records to be written by anyone other than the medical professional,” Ms Martin added.
“I understand if doctors are pressed for time they may want to use it and maybe there is an argument about keeping costs down, but we should all have the right to say no thank-you very much.”
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