A DENTIST has been struck off after being found guilty of a catalogue of blunders at a north-east practice.
A professional standards body ruled that patients were put at risk by the incompetence of Michail Michalakis.
The dentist, who is originally from Athens in Greece, was working for NHS Grampian at the Bayview Dental Practice in Banff between May and June 2012 when the complaints against him were made.
He did not appear before a General Dental Council (GDC) panel hearing this month and the case against him was heard in his absence, with a spokeswoman for the council adding that he “did not engage with the process at all”.
Fourteen patients made allegations, including that he regularly advised the wrong course of treatment, failed to record findings and treatments properly, and was regularly unable to carry out X-rays correctly. The panel accepted and agreed with all the complaints made.
One of the most serious complaints was he consistently failed to notice a number of basic dental problems and would then attempt to carry out the wrong procedure, including trying to give root canal to someone with a severe infection. He was found to have missed generally poor dental hygiene in one patient, while in others he did not notice decay or lesions.
He wrongly referred “Patient 13” to hospital to have teeth removed before asking a hygienist to do root canal work – a procedure his colleague was not qualified for. He referred “Patient 10” incorrectly to a hygienist twice, firstly for fillings which could have involved the tooth’s pulp and secondly for “fissure sealants” when the tooth should have been removed. It was found he took excessive time to remove a tooth from a 12-year-old and broke the tooth of another patient by trying to remove a tooth with wrong tools.
The panel also agreed that he was consistently unable to use an X-ray machine correctly – repeatedly exposing the images to light and spoiling them and often placing the sensors in the wrong way.
A GDC spokeswoman said yesterday that patients were put “at risk” by his incompetence. “There were several obvious failings in Mr Michalakis’ clinical practice,” she said. “A number of the treatments he provided were defective. For example, the method he adopted in treating a patient with an uncomfortable new denture was inappropriate and far below the standard expected of a reasonably competent dental practitioner.
“In the committee’s view, the way in which Mr Michalakis practised dentistry did not put his patients’ interests first. In some cases, patients were exposed to risks as a result of his incompetence.
“All of the complaints made against him were found to be correct.”
The dentist, whose registered address was given as Papagou 62, Mellisia, Athens, was suspended by the General Dental Council in December 2013 and that order was extended until June to allow the hearing to take place. He will be struck off the register in 28 days unless he exercises his right of appeal. Last night, an NHS Grampian spokeswoman confirmed he had been employed by the health board but no longer worked for it.
She added: “We have noted the decision of the GDC panel.”
No one from the Bayview Dental Practice in Banff was willing to comment.