The DMD Checkup: NH Dentist Allegedly Treated Patients While Imparied

A New Hampshire dentist is under investigation after allegedly practicing while impaired. That tops this week’s news so far in the world of dentistry. Also making the list: Dentist fired for speaking out against Kentucky’s proposed Medicaid overhaul, new treatment for gland cancer and a grant to bring dental care to underserved children.

·Keene dentist faces allegations of practicing while impaired A Keene pediatric dentist has agreed not to practice while allegations that he worked while impaired are pending before the state’s dental board. Dr. Blake C. Wullbrandt, a dentist at Children’s Dental Care in Keene, is accused of practicing while impaired on two occasions, according to an Aug. 3 order from the N.H. Board of Dental Examiners.

·Cal State L.A. gets $16.6-million state grant to bring dental health to underserved children Cal State Los Angeles was awarded $16.6 million to bring dental care to underserved communities in the Greater Los Angeles area, officials said Tuesday, billing the grant as the largest in the university’s history. The school was one of 15 agencies awarded funding from the California Department of Health Care Services to create programs to improve access to dental care over the next four years for the roughly 5 million children enrolled in the Denti-Cal program.

·Former dentist 'treated 1,500 patients while unregistered' A former dentist who treated patients, including children, illegally has been fined. Eleni Kalamara pleaded guilty to five charges of carrying out dentistry illegally following an investigation and prosecution by regulators the General Dental Council. The charges related to ‘dental procedures of varying complexity’ performed on five separate patients, including children, in 2015.

·Kentucky dentist says he was fired for criticizing Medicaid plan A former public health dentist at the University of Kentucky claimed in a lawsuit he was fired for publicly criticizing Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s plan to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program. Raynor Mullins was a faculty member at the university’s college of dentistry. He lost his job June 30 after more than 40 years with the university. In a federal lawsuit filed recently, Mullins claimed two top university officials and an unknown member of Bevin’s administration conspired to punish him for publicly criticizing the governor’s Medicaid plan. He wants financial compensation for losing his job and to punish the university and Bevin’s office for harming his reputation.

·Dentistry school uncovers new treatment for gland cancer A new University of Michigan study found the combination of traditional chemotherapy drug, cisplatin, with an experimental drug destroys a rare type of salivary gland tumor and prevents it from reoccurring within 300 days after treatment. The study was conducted on mice as well as primary human adenoid cystic carcinoma cells in the Nör Lab at the School of Dentistry.