FORKS — Robert F. Henry, Forks’ lone dentist, has been placed on probation for a year by the state Department of Health.
He also must pay a $10,000 fine.
Henry will continue treating patients while his license to practice is on probation.
“I’m weathering the storm and continuing,” he said. “There’s no problem there.”
His probation was ordered for allowing a dental assistant to administer nitrous oxide, a general anesthetic, and to scale a patient’s teeth, according to an order and stipulations by Henry and the state Dental Quality Assurance Commission.
The agreement was signed Oct. 5 but not posted until this week by the state Department of Health.
Charges filed in July
The order stemmed from charges filed by the dental commission on July 20.
The incidents took place on at least one patient sometime between February 1983 and Aug. 8, 2003, the order said.
Other “unprofessional conduct,” according to the order, stemmed from an Aug. 6, 2003, infection-control inspection at Dr. Henry’s office at 421 G. St., Forks.
The order said Henry and his staff:
* Did not wear masks when splatter or spray was likely.
* Did not place sterilized instruments in bags or under a protective cover.
* Did not heat-sterilize sonic/ultrasonic scaler tips, metal impression trays and other equipment.
* Reused evacuator tips.
The actions violated sections of state law that define unprofessional conduct as that which “creates an unreasonable risk that a patient may be harmed” and as “aiding or abetting an unlicensed person to practice when a license is required,” the commission said.
In addition, the behaviors violated sections of the Washington Administrative Code that forbid an unlicensed person from administrating nitrous oxide. The code also says no unlicensed person can scale teeth.
