PA- Pa. dentists barred from dating patients

10-21-2008 Pennsylvania:

HARRISBURG -- Dentists who find their perfect love match sitting in the patients' chair must end the professional relationship and wait a few months before dating, according to new state regulations.

The new rules say that any sexual conduct -- even consensual contact -- with a current patient, including "words, gestures or expressions, actions or any combination thereof," is subject to disciplinary action by the State Board of Dentistry.

The regulations will apply to dentists, hygienists and other state-licensed dental practitioners engaged in sexual conduct with patients they have treated within the past three months. There are exceptions for relationships in which the patient is a spouse or lives with the employee.

The rules received a state regulatory review board's final approval Thursday over the objections of the Pennsylvania Dental Association. The association argued that the new rules are excessively broad and that current regulations prohibiting sexual, verbal and physical abuse of patients are adequate. The regulations will take effect in the coming weeks after they are formally published.

"The (association) feels that a normal, healthy, romantic relationship between a dentist and a patient, with mutual consent, does not constitute sexual misconduct," said Philadelphia dentist Dr. Thomas Gamba, the association's president.

Neither the American Dental Association nor the American Association of Dental Examiners keeps track of state licensing policies. The ADA's code of conduct discourages members from having relationships with patients "that could impair their professional judgment or risk the possibility of exploiting the confidence placed in them by a patient."

Pennsylvania's dentistry board says its proposal is consistent with other states' laws and regulations and noted that California, Iowa, Maine and Mississippi have similar definitions of sexual misconduct. ..News Source.. by Pittsburg Post-Gazette