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Oklahoma: Dental clinic inspections not necessary

By Justin Juozapavicius
Published March 30, 2013 4:00am ET
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Oklahoma: Dental clinic inspections not necessary
Dentist Alice G. Boghosian removes packages of properly sterilized dental instruments from an autoclave that uses heat and steam to sterilize the tools Friday, March 29, 2013, in Chicago. Health officials in Oklahoma are calling an oral surgeon there who used dirty equipment and risked cross-contamination a "menace to public health" and are urging thousands of his patients to seek medical screenings for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. Though officials say such situations involving dental clinics are rare, Dr. Matt Messina, a dentist in Cleveland, and a consumer advisor for the American Dental Association, says patients should ask their dentist and oral surgeon about the steps they and their staffs take to sterilize equipment. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) | M. Spencer Green

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The Oklahoma agency that accused a Tulsa oral surgeon of unsanitary practices, putting thousands of people at risk for hepatitis and HIV, says it’s never needed to inspect medical offices regularly.

“This doesn’t happen,” Susan Rogers, the executive director of the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry, said Friday. “There’s not been a need for these inspections because we’ve never had a complaint like this.”

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