Dentist guilty of misconduct for delegating duties to nurses

A dentist who repeatedly asked his nurses to take part in the treatment of a patient's buck teeth has had his name removed from the register for a month, with the penalty suspended for a year.

Orthodontics specialist Harry Pang Harling, who pleaded not guilty, was convicted by the Dental Council of unprofessional conduct by improperly delegating duties to his nurses and dental assistants between September 2006 and April 2009.

The council heard that Pang, who had 34 years' experience in dentistry, had given nurses the task of fitting and removing wires and power chains - elastic materials used to hold wires in place - on Mong Chi-chui, 18, during more than 40 consultations. Mong, a student, was unsatisfied with the result and lodged a complaint with the Dental Council after learning from news reports that delegation of orthodontic treatment to nurses constituted misconduct.

Pang said yesterday the nurses had only been allowed to remove power chains, while he had performed all the complicated procedures, such as applying and removing wires and fitting power chains.

He said he had asked nurses to remove the power chains because it was 'simple and harmless' and saved time. The council heard it took 15 to 30 seconds to remove the elastic.

Pang said he had trained the nurses on a model for one to three weeks before allowing them to perform the task on patients.