Santa Marino Dentist Accused Of Using Undocumented Workers On Patients Under Anesthesia
By Alexander Leher
Published August 25, 2012
A Santa Marino dentist is fighting charges that he used uncertified and untrained workers to perform both simple and complex dental procedures, sometimes while his patients were under anesthesia.
Spokesman for the California Dental Board described the charges against Taylor P. Schmidt, D.D.S. as follows: “Dr. Schmidt is accused of using unlicensed and incompetent workers to perform his own work or work requiring a licensed and properly trained doctor of dentistry.” Dr. Schmidt faces loss of his dentistry license – and possibly other lesser sanctions – if charges by the California Dental Board are proven.
The charges arose after a patient (“Patient No. 1”) awoke from anesthesia to find three unfamiliar, men speaking loudly in Mexican-inflected Spanish working on his teeth. One of the men was using a dental drill on his tooth requiring a filling. Another of the three was pointing a garden leaf blower into the patients face “at point blank range” causing “great discomfort and distress.” Investigators believe the worker was using the blower to dry the mouth cavity in lieu of a standard dental suction tube.
Another patient (“Patient 2”) claims that Dr. Schmidt had another unfamiliar non-English speaking “technician” perform a cavity filling on her. Authorities believe that the technician was really a nanny by trade without any dentistry training. Patient 2 testified that the technician had with her a flaxen-haired child of about six years of age that she would shout at in Spanish to keep quiet.
In response to the charges, Dr. Schmidt has mounted a vigorous legal defense. “Dr. Schmidt categorically denies these charges,” said Nathan T. Burme, Esq., legal counsel for the embattled dentist. “At the very worst, Dr. Schmidt is a victim of a fraud perpetrated by dental workers submitting fake licenses to his office.”
“There is a reason we do not look for our dentists in the parking lot of Home Depot,” said Blum-Gartner.
Dental health advocate and spokesmodel Roberta Blum-Gartner said too many dentists are using undocumented workers to do their work for them. “There is a reason we do not look for our dentists in the parking lot of Home Depot,” said Blum-Gartner. “We need better enforcement and more resources so people know a real dentist is doing their dental work.”
The Dental Board is expected to issue a ruling by November 15.
Dr. Schmidt declined to comment citing the pending investigation.
