Dental surgeon fined for extracting wrong teeth
Posted: 30 May 2011 1333 hrs
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SINGAPORE: A dental surgeon practising at the National Dental Centre (NDC) was fined S$3,000 for wrongly extracting two teeth of a patient back in May 2007.
Dr Debbie Hong Pooi Mun wrongly extracted the upper left first premolar and lower left second premolar of the patient.
She pleaded guilty to the charge.
Dr Hong was charged under the Dental Registration Act.
The root cause of that incident four years ago was traced to the issue of patient identification - a referral slip for extraction was attached to the wrong patient call number chit.
That resulted in the wrong patient being called into the room for extraction.
The staff also failed to verify the patient's identity and treatment needed.
The Singapore Dental Council's disciplinary committee was of the opinion that the wrongful extraction of the patient's two teeth was a serious matter and could have been avoided if Dr Hong had been more diligent in her duty.
The committee therefore found her guilty of improper conduct bringing disrepute to the profession.
Dr Hong was also censured and ordered to pay for the costs of the disciplinary proceedings.
The NDC said what happened was unfortunate and took full responsibility for it.
An apology was made immediately following the incident.
It followed up by offering the patient consultations with an endodontist, orthodontist and an oral surgeon.
Attempts to re-implant the extracted teeth were unfortunately not successful and a new treatment plan was presented to the patient.
NDC said the patient had completed corrective orthodontic treatment in January this year and the costs were fully borne by the centre.
-CNA/fa/wk
